Yet Another Goode Story
by Arrietta Vistoso
Summary: Annabeth is at Goode! Have you already read a hundred of these? Me too! Might as well make it a hundred and one... Warning: MoA spoilers.
1. Chapter 1

***Annabeth is reading Percabeth fanfictions because it is secretly her guilty pleasure***

***Finds about a hundred Annabeth goes to Goode fanfics***

**"What in Hades?" she says.**

**"What is it?" Percy asks.**

**"How did you get in my cabin?"**

**"That's my business... What are you looking at?"**

**"These fanfictions about us in high school, they're so inaccurate, they make me look like a dependent jealous idiot. And we make out in the middle of class in like every one of them." she says.**

**"Wow, I'm positive that didn't happen. Let me see." *Percy reads a few fanfics* "This doesn't make any sense. And none of them accurately portray my Persassyness."**

**"Persassy?"**

**"Go on tumblr, it's a thing."**

**"How do you know about tumblr? You don't even have a computer."**

**"Well maybe you shouldn't be using this one, we're gonna get attacked by monsters because of the wifi signal."**

**"Daedalus's laptop doesn't attract monsters."**

**"Oh... what were we talking about?"**

**"These terrible fanfictions."**

**"Right, we should write one. An accurate one."**

**"Alright, sounds good to me."**

**Sorry about that ridiculous little story, but it was fun. So I've noticed that there are about a million Annabeth at Goode stories, so I joined the bandwagon. Hopefully mine is pretty accurate, it takes place after the Giant War and there will be some MoA spoilers.**

**I'm going to try and switch between Percy and Annabeth for the chapters. Please leave a review even if it's just saying that mine is unoriginal and the same as every other one. I'm not claiming that mine won't be cliche at some points, what I'm mostly going for is accuracy and keeping them in character. I understand that people interpret their relationship differently, but this is just how I view it. **

**And I don't own anything. *Cries because she doesn't own Leo Valdez and all of his demigodishness***

**So yeah, I'm done talking now, enjoy the story and leave a review.**

The Giant War was over. Okay, it's really hard to sound serious and say that. I mean, I might as well say the Really, Really Big War, because that's how serious it sounds. Anyway, excuse my ADHD brain, the war was over, there were a few deaths, but nothing that bad. I was sure they were all in Elysium, so even though I felt bad, I wasn't taking a guilt trip, they had died heroes. The person I was really worried about was Annabeth.

I hadn't left her side since Tartarus, not until yesterday that is. It was killing me to not be with her, anything could happen. From the moment I got in the car to leave camp, scenarios ran through my mind of everything that could possibly go wrong. I knew I shouldn't be worried, she was at camp. She was staying to rebuild after the Romans… err I don't want Jason to get mad at me for saying anything bad, but there needs to be some rebuilding.

She would be perfectly safe at camp, really, I was in more danger than she was. At least that's what I told myself. It just didn't feel right to not have her at my side. I had already arranged to spend every weekend at camp, but that still wouldn't be enough. Whenever I was walking, I found myself turning around to see if Annabeth was keeping up, but she was never there. She was a hole that couldn't be filled.

Oh, yeah, I'm supposed to be telling a story, not just talking about Annabeth, and her beautiful gray eyes, and her perfect blonde curls, and they way she punches me in the arm and ends up hurting herself, and… Right, story time. It was my first day of Junior Year. I didn't really know what to expect. I didn't have all that many friends, Freshman year I mostly hung out with Rachel, and last year I only had a few months before a certain goddess (*cough* Hera *cough*) decided to abduct me.

Paul parked the car in his teacher's parking space. I will honestly say the best part of having a stepdad that works at your school is that you get to park super close to the building. The worst part is that you have to get there super early, 7:30. Class didn't start 'til 8, so I had time to kill.

"Have a good first day, Percy," Paul said. He smiled like he knew something I didn't.

"You too," I said. Paul walked off towards the teacher's lounge. I decided I would try to find some of the people I had been kind of friends with last year. Best case scenario they remember me and decide not to ask too many questions. I knew people would ask questions, and I did have a cover story: I went to live with my cousins in California. It was sort of true.

I walked towards the cafeteria, I remembered that people liked to hang out there in the mornings last year. On my way past I passed a group of girls wearing way too much makeup. They looked like Grover that one time he broke Drew's hairbrush and they attacked him. Yeah, I do have pictures, but I'm a good friend, so you can't see them.

One of them, who looked like an Oompa Loompa from _Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory_ gaped open mouthed at me. I felt incredibly uncomfortable. My first thought was that I had forgotten to wear pants or maybe there was a hellhound attacking me. Then I thought maybe there was a hellhound attacking me and it had stolen my pants. I turned around, no hellhound. I looked down, my pants were present. Why was she staring at me?

"Hey cutie," the Oompa Loompa called. Did I mention that Oompa Loompa's creep me out?

"Hi," I said nervously.

"Are you new?" she asked.

"Sort of," I stammered. Despite the fact that we had to wear a uniform, she somehow made it… _not uniform_. Her black skirt was hiked up really high, she wore some very painful looking heals, and her purple shirt looked really tight. I felt sorry for her, the uniform was uncomfortable enough as it was, but her version looked like torture.

"How are you sort of new?" the girl asked.

"Well, I went here, but then I didn't go here, and now I go here," I explained.

"I remember you, you were in my Geometry class! You're the kid who disappeared after winter break!" another cried.

"I remember, Peter Johnson, right?" another asked.

"It's Percy Jackson," I said. I swear to Zeus if that girl was Mr. D in disguise…

"Well, Percy, how would you like to start off the school year with a new girlfriend?" the Oompa Loompa asked.

"No thanks, I have a girlfriend," I said quickly. I tried to escape the group of girls, but they formed a wall. I really would have rather faced a hellhound. At least I knew how to fight a hellhound. A bunch of girls with bigger make-up addictions than Aphrodite, I was clueless.

"Oh, who's this girlfriend?" the Oompa Loompa asked.

"Uh, she doesn't go here."

"Where does she go?"

"She's homeschooled," that was almost true. Camp Half-Blood is like home, and there are books. Alright, fine, I'm a dirty liar.

"I think your making her up," she said.

"No, she's real," I said, and then I saw it. Across the yard I saw a flash of blonde hair and two piercing gray eyes. "And she's here!"

**Yay! Chapter one is complete. **

**Did you like it? I'm just going to say that the make-up covered girls aren't going to play a huge role like they do in most of these fanfics. They'll be gone by chapter three and will only make minor appearances after that. I don't want the entire story to be Annabeth just hating on other girls, because I think it's OOC. **

**Let me know if you think my Percy is funny enough in his commentary, I want this to be fun for you to read. **

**Thanks for reading!**

**-Arrietta**


	2. Chapter 2

***Percy is scrolling through his emails and sees tons of awesome reviews and follows***

**"Annabeth, check it out! People loved my story! They think I mastered the sass!" he says.**

**"Are you serious? I could do way better tan this. Move over, Seaweed brain. Let the real author take her place," she says.**

**Okay, I wasn't really planning to do any more of those little stories, but oh well. Thanks so much for all the reviews, they really mean a lot to me. You guys can show your support in this writing battle for either Annabeth or Percy by leaving a review on their chapters.**

**(Annabeth POV)**

No, I didn't plan to go to Goode. I really was going to stay at camp and rebuild. Of course that lasted all of ten minutes.

I was sitting on my bed, panic was setting in. I love Percy and I know he can fight for himself, but he's just such a Seaweed Brain. Going through the Giant War (creative naming whoever names wars) increased his powers a lot. That meant that monsters would be more likely to attack him. I didn't know what I would do if I lost him.

Malcolm walked in on me, I was curled up into a ball on my bunk. The Athena Cabin was one of the lucky few that was still standing.

"You should go to him, it's not good for either of you to be alone after what you went through," he said. That was one of the times when it is good to have a very wise brother.

"Thank you!" I hugged him. I knew Malcolm had always been protective of me, especially around boys. After Luke had hurt me, he couldn't exactly come around to trusting Percy. I think that the Giant War finally changed his mind.

"We'll take care of the rebuilding, you just go take care of yourself," he said.

"You're the best Malcolm!" I said, still hugging him incredibly tight.

"Just tell Percy that if he tries anything with my little sister, he'll be answering to me," he said. There he was again, overprotective Malcolm. I laughed for two reason, one because Malcolm would never have a reason to need to hurt Percy, and two because Percy would totally kick Malcolm's butt.

So I called Paul. It took a little work for him to get me into the school a day before classes returned, but my excellent academic record helped. Paul agreed that Percy didn't seem right, even after us being separated for a few hours. I was going to rent an apartment, but he insisted that I would use the spare room in their apartment. Everything was going to work out, I just had to show up tomorrow morning.

Of course, the morning couldn't come fast enough. I tried to occupy myself with architectural plans, but I couldn't focus. My mind kept drifting to Percy, and all the ways he could get himself killed before tomorrow morning. I lay in my bed until finally sleep came. I had no horrible nightmares or vision, no, everything was calm. Everything would be fine, I would go to a normal high school with Percy, and this could be our first step towards a normal life. Who was I kidding; we would never have a normal life.

I woke up extra early to have time to drive into the city. I had already arranged it with Sally that I would come to their apartment after Percy and Paul left so that I could drop off my bags and change into my Goode uniform. That's just what I did. My Goode uniform was pretty plain, just a black skirt and a purple polo. I also wore my blue converse, camp necklace, and silver owl earrings. I let my hair fall down around my shoulders. I would usually just put it in a ponytail for school, but it was the first day and I wanted to look at least a little nice.

Sally drove me to school and wouldn't stop talking the whole time about how happy she was that I was staying. I love Sally, she's so relaxed and nice and easy to talk to. She's like the anti-Athena (I love you mommy).

When we made it to the school, I saw that Percy was standing uncomfortably in a group of what I like to call ugly-Drews. It's basically a girl who wears tons of makeup, like Drew, but can't pull it off. Even though the whole makeup thing didn't really work for me, I had to admit it worked for Drew.

So my Seaweed Brain had gotten himself surrounded. I thanked Sally and ran off to rescue my idiot boyfriend. Some girls would probably be jealous if they saw their boyfriend surrounded by a group of girls, but I knew Percy. I could tell that he was absolutely hating this, he was trying to escape, but didn't want to hurt their feelings by just leaving. It was almost fun to watch him try to find a way out, but then I realized I was being a bad girlfriend and should really go help.

So I walked towards him. The look on his face when he saw me was priceless. It was even better than his face when we reunited in New Rome. At that time, he knew I was coming, and had a practiced troublemaker grin on his face. Now I had caught him off guard. His eyes lit up and his lips formed into a ridiculous grin. It was exactly what I wanted.

"Annabeth!" he screamed, running towards me. I hated to admit it, but he was stronger than me, by a lot. Of course that wouldn't stop me from beating him up, but it did make the idea of him slamming into me with a full body hug not exactly fun. So I did an old fighting maneuver. I sidestepped. And of course he fell for it. I laughed as he ran past me with a confused look on his face.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"I didn't want to get trampled," I said.

He pulled me into a hug and gave me a kiss on the forehead, "What are you doing here?"

"I had a terrible feeling that you might get yourself killed if I left you alone for too long," I said.

"Are you sure it's not because you missed me?" he teased.

"Oh, please," I said.

"Annabeth missed me, Annabeth missed me," he sing-songed.

"Says the boy who charged the second he saw me," I said.

"Um, I was making sure you remembered the proper way to defend yourself against a Minotaur," he said.

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain," I punched him in the chest. That was a bad idea because now my hand hurt like crazy. I rubbed it to get rid of the soreness.

"That's what you get for attacking me," he said in his best tough guy voice. I rolled my eyes. "Do you want me to kiss it?" he asked, now in a five-year-old voice.

"Yes, I do want you to kiss it, since it's your fault," I said. He kissed my hand.

"Excuse me, who are you?" a girl with a very orange face asked.

"That's the crazy Oompa Loompa," Percy whispered in my ear. I stifled a laugh.

"I'm Annabeth, Annabeth Chase, nice to meet you," I said, extending my hand to the Oompa Loompa.

"Just what the school needs, another brainless perky blonde," she grumbled.

"Excuse me," I said. I'm sorry, but you do not call a daughter of Athena brainless.

"See, she can't even understand what I'm saying," she and her friends laughed. "Let me explain slowly," she began speaking slowly with extra emphasis on each letter, "Go home."

"What are you going to do if I don't?" I asked. I knew she wouldn't have anything to say, it was an empty threat.

I was right, she and her friends walked away, leaving Percy and me alone on the front yard of the school.

"Sorry about that, they kind of ambushed me," he said.

"It's okay, it was kind of fun to have to deal with a normal problem for once. You know, instead of like a monster trying to kill us," I shrugged.

"Well, with two demigods in one school it's bound to happen eventually," he said with a smile.

**Thanks for reading!**

**-Arrietta**


	3. Chapter 3

**"Percy, check this out!" Ananbeth said.**

**"What?"**

**"I got more reviews than you!"**

**"How?"**

**"Because I am superior, deal with it." **

**"Deal with it? That's my thing!"**

**"Since when?"**

**"You really need to get on tumblr more..."**

**"What is it with you and the tumblr?"**

**If you didn't get it, the "deal with it" was a reference to that new Percy gif that I'm obsessed with. **

**Anyway, I've been getting tons of reviews and I appreciate every single one of them.**

**So, yeah, enjoy the story.**

**(Percy POV)**

Annabeth was at my school, and I couldn't stop smiling. It was just too perfect. Too perfect. I really wasn't having high hopes for the year, I would scrape by and try not to get thrown out. But with Annabeth here, it was going to be a good year.

We held hands and walked into the cafeteria. There were a ton of kids sitting at different tables. Some were eating breakfast, some were doing homework, and some were just hanging out.

"Where should we go?" Annabeth asked.

"I think I see some of my old friends over there," I said, looking at a table in the corner of the room. There were five kids, three boys, two girls. They were my friends last year before I disappeared. I didn't know how they would react to my return, but it was worth a shot.

We hadn't even reached the table when they noticed us. "He's alive! The Great Percy Jackson lives!" Jeremy shouted across the cafeteria. He was always loud.

"Percy!" Laura cried. She and Tara ran up and gave me friendly hugs.

"Dude, where have you been? You just dropped off the face of the planet. Paul is just like 'he had to go somewhere'. What did that mean?" Sean asked.

"I was staying with my cousins in California," I answered.

"Why?" Jeremy asked. Styx! I hadn't thought of that part.

"I was, uh…"

"He had some very private family issues to deal with, his annoying aunt just pulled him out and forced him to help," Annabeth said. She was a lifesaver.

"Who's this?" Brian asked.

"Oh, do you guys remember me telling you about my girlfriend Annabeth?" I asked.

"Only every five minutes," Laura said. "It was like all he said was 'Annabeth is so pretty,' or 'Annabeth smells good'."

"I smell good? That's what you tell people about me?" Annabeth asked me.

"I have never commented on your scent, Laura, stop with these accusations," I said.

"No, she's not lying. I remember you talking for an entire lunch period about just how her hair smells," Sean said.

"Wait, so you're Annabeth? Tara, you owe me twenty bucks, I told you she was real," Jeremy said.

"You guys put bets on the existence of my girlfriend?" I asked.

"Just me and Jeremy," Tara said.

"Alright everyone, this is Annabeth, my very existent girlfriend. Annabeth, this is Jeremy, Sean, Brian, Laura, and Tara. They are insane, but not Leo insane."

"What's Leo insane?" Brian asked.

"You don't want to know," we answered together.

"New school year resolution, achieve whatever Leo insane is," Jeremy said.

"You won't even come close, trust me," I said.

"So Annabeth, do you have your schedule?" Tara asked.

"Yeah here," she held out her schedule to the girls. I pulled out mine too so I could compare with her.

"Oh gods, look what we both have first bell," I laughed. Annabeth saw and laughed too. _Ancient Greek_

"Don't tell me you're a Greek freak like Percy," Laura said.

"If by Greek freak you mean I'm fluent and I know every myth ever, then yes, I am a Greek freak," she smiled.

Laura groaned, "I'm in that class too, and I'm terrible at it. It just doesn't make sense, why do I care about stupid Zeus or whatever." Annabeth and I both ducked, expecting Laura to be electrocuted right then and there. Then I remembered that Zeus really didn't care about mortals and that they could do whatever they wanted. They were so lucky.

The bell rang and it was time to go to class. Annabeth, Laura, and I were the only ones with Ancient Greek first, so separated and walked to class. It was going to be a fun class for the Greek freaks.

**Okay, that one was kind of short, but I'll probably update again tomorrow, so just stay strong (now that song is stuck in my head).**

**Enjoy Life!**

**-Arrietta**


	4. Chapter 4

**"Gods, people are really liking Percy's chapters. I need to step up my game," Annabeth said**.

**"You know you can't beat me, Wise Girl, I have like, five whole books."**

**"How do you keep getting in my cabin?"**

**"Sorry, I got lonely."**

***Malcolm walks in***

**"Seriously! This is like the fifth time! Are you trying to get us all in trouble?" Malcolm said.**

**"It's not my fault, he just shows up!" Annabeth said.**

**"Wow, I thought you liked it when I visited."**

**"How often does he visit?" Malcolm asked.**

**"I don't know what your talking about, I've never been in this cabin in my life," Percy said. *Percy leaves***

***Malcolm gives Annabeth****_ the_****_look*_**

**__****Oh my gods, you guys are amazing! I have been getting so many amazing reviews that I decided I would be nice (which is weird for me) and post an extra chapter today.**

**Your reviews have been nothing but supportive, and I want to hug all of you. I can't do that, so I'll hug my laptop instead. **

**Please enjoy this chapter, and for anyone curious I did the Greek on Google translate, so if it is a little off, blame the internets!**

**(Annabeth POV)**

I took a seat between Percy and Laura in the Ancient Greek classroom. The teacher was an old woman who could have been alive when Athena was born. She looked that old.

"Welcome to Ancient Greek. I'm Ms. Breaders. We will be learning some basic Greek language, but we will mostly be learning the culture and beliefs of Ancient Greece. All talking to those around you will be in Greek or not at all, understand?" she said.

"Γεια σου κοίτα με μιλώ στα ελληνικά έτσι ώστε να του επιτραπεί" Percy said. _Hey, look at me, I'm speaking in Greek, so it's allowed._

"Μην κατάχρηση εξουσίας σας" I replied. _Don't abuse your power._

"Δεν είναι κακοποίηση, είπε ότι θα μπορούσε να." _It's not abuse, she said we could._

"και ίσως εγώ πραγματικά θέλουν να μάθουν κάτι." _Well, maybe I actually want to learn something._

"Έλα, γνωρίζετε ήδη τα πάντα." _Come on, you already know everything._

"Mr. Jackson, Miss Chase, I appreciate your little demonstration, but I would actually like to be able to teach the class," Mrs. Breaders scolded us. I hadn't noticed that the entire class was watching our conversation, trying to catch a word or two.

"Since we apparently have some fluent students, they can help me with our first lesson. Jackson, Chase, front of the room please," Mrs. Breaders said. We reluctantly walked to the front of the classroom.

"Mr. Jackson, will you please show us the proper way to great someone in Greek," she said. Percy turned to me.

"Έλα, γνωρίζετε ήδη τα πάντα." He laughed. Mrs. Breaders looked appalled.

"Mr. Jackson! That is not something you say when you meet someone!" she said.

"Tell that to Annabeth!" Percy laughed. I was laughing too. It was the first thing I said when I first met Percy: _You drool when you sleep._

"Okay, let's try this again. Miss Chase, will you please tell Percy something. A friendly compliment," Mrs. Breaders said.

"το κεφάλι σας είναι γεμάτο από φύκια" I said. _Your head is full of seaweed._

"What is wrong with you two? Just go, go sit down, please." She said. Percy and I went back to our seats. Mrs. Breaders looked like she had the world's worst migraine. I actually felt a little bad for her, but insulting Percy and confusing the whole class was still fun.

"How do you do that?" Laura asked as we were leaving the classroom.

"Do what?" Percy asked.

"The crazy thing, with the Greek talking, and the making the teacher freak out. What were you guys talking about?" she said.

"Oh, I just told Percy he's a Seaweed Brain," I explained.

"Thanks Wise Girl, I love you too," Percy said. He wrapped his arm around me affectionately.

"I speak only the truth," I smiled.

"Okay… I have to go to Algebra," Laura said, and she ran off to her class.

"What class do you have next?" Percy asked me.

"Advanced Chemistry," I said, looking at my schedule.

"Yeah, I definitely don't have that. The only other classes we have together are English and History. Those are both after lunch, so I'll see you then," he said.

"Okay, don't get into any trouble without me," I said.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he smiled. He gave me a quick peck on the cheek and ran towards his class. Of course he tripped and fell, landing on his face.

"Nice job, Seaweed Brain!" I called.

"I meant to do that," he said. I rolled my eyes and walked away towards my class.

Advanced Chemistry would have been easy. Except for the stupid periodic tables they provided. The words were microscopic. And the atomic masses, forget about it. I'm dyslexic and tiny writing is my mortal enemy, err, second mortal enemy. Hera beats tiny writing. Then again, Hera is immortal, making her my immortal enemy and therefore tiny writing is once again my mortal enemy.

So I couldn't read my periodic table. Luckily, I had memorized it at age ten, so it wasn't as big a problem as it could have been.

The work was apparently hard for most of the kids, but I finished it in minutes. That meant I had forty minutes to do nothing. Now _that_ was torture. I tried to take out Daedalus's laptop, but the teacher yelled at me to just double check my answers. I did. They were all right. I tried to get out the laptop again, and now the teacher was mad.

"Little lady, I don't know what school you are from, but here at Goode we do not slack off on our work. Put the laptop away and finish the problems," the teacher said.

"But I already finished them," I said.

"Let me see then," she said. I handed over my paper.

"See," I said.

"These are all right? That's impossible; this is a pre-test of material we haven't taught yet. How did you do this so quickly?" she said, clearly perplexed.

"It was easy," I said.

"Being cocky, huh? There's no way you actually did this. I suspect cheating. You're going to the principal's office!" she said.

"I didn't cheat, I just knew the answers!" I protested. It was an insult to my intelligence and dignity to accuse me of cheating.

"Save it for the principal. Go, now!" she said. I collected my things and walked out the door.

**Ooooooh scandal! **

**Well, thanks again for all the reviews!**

**-Arrietta**


	5. Chapter 5

***Annabeth finds Percy in the Pegasus stables* **

**"Percy, what are you doing?"**

**"Hiding from Malcolm."**

**"Why?"**

**"I think he's still mad about yesterday, he kept giving me weird looks at breakfast."**

**"That's because you were eating blue eggs."**

**"... How is that weird?"**

**"Seaweed Brain..."**

**Tada! Another chapter!**

**Please enjoy, and thanks everyone who has been reviewing!**

**(Percy POV)**

Things I'm bad at:

Math

Not being with Annabeth

Math

Archery

Math

Did I mention math? It's torture. Not to mention that I was in a class of sophomores because I never finished it last year. So I was retaking Geometry and it seemed even worse the second time around.

I even had the same teacher as last year, and she did not seem pleased to have me back. "Percy, what a pleasure to have you sleep through my class again this year," she said. Yeah, I slept through her class everyday last year, but it was first bell so you can't really blame me.

"Hello Ms. Jacobs," I said.

"Just take a seat in the front, where I can see you," she said. I did as I was told. Ms. Jacobs began talking all about stuff that I didn't really care about. I knew that Annabeth would show me how to do my homework, so I decided I would just pretend to pay attention for now.

Athena hates me. Anyone who doesn't know that doesn't pay attention well. You would think saving the world twice would get you a little respect, right? Wrong. After the Giant War Athena had a really brilliant plan: Let's kill Percy! She believed that I was becoming too powerful or something and that letting me live would result in another war, blah, blah, blah. We all knew the real reason was because she still didn't want me anywhere near Annabeth. None of the other gods went along with the plan, but it still hurt a little.

What does this have to do with my math class? Owls. Three gray owls flew into the math classroom. Do you have a guess what they tried to do? No, they didn't have my Hogwarts letter (dang it), they were attacking me.

So three owls flew through the window and started pecking my head. The class erupted in chaos. Ms. Jacobs was yelling at me as if it were _my _fault.

I got up from my seat and ran into the hallway in an attempt to shake the owls loose. In the hallway, I saw Annabeth, walking with an angry look on her face.

"Get the little demons off of me!" I yelled at her.

"Bridget? Marcus? Andy? Stop attacking my boyfriend!" she yelled. Amazingly, the owls listened. They fluttered over to Annabeth and landed on her shoulders, nudging her head affectionately.

"You know these birds?" I asked. I knew Annabeth had a thing for owls, but this was news to me.

"Yeah, these guys are some of my mom's favorites. You must have really gotten her mad for her to send Bridget." She said, and then switched to that silly voice people use with babies and puppies, "Because Bridget is one of Mommy's favorites! Yes, she is!" she said to the owl, scratching its head.

"Well they tried to kill me," I said.

"Did you deserve it?" she asked.

"I did nothing offensive to your mother," I defended. Okay, I offended Athena by accident a lot, but I was pretty sure I hadn't done anything this time. Pretty sure.

"I'll talk to her about it," she said.

"Hey, why aren't you in class?" I asked.

"I've been sent to the principal's office," she shrugged.

"You got sent to the principal's office!" I couldn't contain my laughter. "I must be rubbing off on you."

"No, I'll explain later, just go back to class. And say you're sorry to Bridget. She lost a feather."

I felt ridiculous about apologizing to a bird, especially since it had attacked me first, but I didn't want to anger Athena again, so I apologized to the owl.

I went back to math class. The teacher didn't even notice and no one seemed to remember the owl attack. _Got to love the Mist._


	6. Chapter 6

**"That chapter was horrible," Annabeth said.**

**"I was tired, you try to do better," Percy said.**

**"Fine, it's my turn anyways,"**

**Sorry, that scene was kind of boring, I couldn't think of anything better.**

**Anyway, here is my next chapter, and I'm warning you now that the ending is super fluffy. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!**

**Caps lock makes everything more fun. And now I'm off topic...**

**Enjoy! **

"What do you want?" the receptionist lady asked.

"My teacher sent me to speak with the principal," I said.

"Reason?"

"Alleged cheating," I answered.

"Alleged?"

"I did not cheat, but I was accused of cheating," I said.

"Go on in," she said. I walked into the principal's office. The principal was a round man in a tan suit.

"How can I help you?" he said in a jolly voice.

"My teacher sent me here, I was accused of cheating on a pre-test," I said.

"My, I don't know that we've ever had a cheating problem on the first day. You say you didn't cheat, what evidence does your teacher have against you?" he said.

"Nothing," I said.

"Then why does she suspect you of cheating?"

"Because I knew the answers."

"Are you new?"

"Yes, my name is Annabeth Chase. It is my first day."

"Oh, so you're the girl Mr. Blofis gave the dazzling recommendation about. Well, considering your record is flawless and you have shown above average intelligence, we will let this one slide. But if I hear another report like this, it could be the end for you at Goode," he said. Great, I had to play dumb for school.

A few classes later and lunch finally rolled around. Percy was standing in the hall outside of the cafeteria, scanning the crowd with a dumb look on his face. He was such a Seaweed Brain.

"Annabeth," he called over the mob of students when he saw me. I made my way to where he stood and he hugged me. "Thank you for saving me from the owls of death," he said.

"They aren't owls of death! Bridget is one of my best friends!" I protested. Percy gave me a weird look, but I ignored it.

"So why was Miss Perfect Annabeth Chase in the principal's office?" he teased.

"My teacher gave us an easy test and got mad when I did well," I said.

"Only you, Wise Girl…"

We sat with Percy's friends at the same table we had sat at that morning. I sat between Percy and Laura, who was telling the others all about Greek class.

"It was crazy, the teacher didn't even understand most of it!" she said. "Where did you guys ever learn to speak like that?"

"Camp," we said simultaneously.

"Tell me more about this camp, I'm curious," Jeremy said.

"Oh, it's not that interesting," I said.

"A camp so not interesting that you can't talk about it?" he pried.

"Yah, just a normal camp, canoes and stuff," Percy said. Well we did have canoes…

"Come on, tell us at least one camp story," Laura said. Percy looked at me with a glint in his eyes. I knew exactly what story he was going to tell.

"Okay, it was last summer, on my birthday, and Annabeth brought me what was possibly the world's ugliest blue cupcake," he started.

"That thing took me three hours to bake!"

"And it was delicious. Anyway, we were eating the cupcake when Annabeth confessed her undying love for me-"

"You are a liar!" I interrupted.

"I mean I finally told Annabeth I liked her after four years of being best friends. And she was not making it easy."

"I never do," I smiled sweetly.

Despite everyone watching, Percy was only looking at me. His green eyes were shining like the shores of Camp Half-Blood in the afternoon. "And then I kissed her," he said.

"Aww, cutest first kiss story ever!" Tara squealed.

"Actually that wasn't our first kiss…" I started.

"But we can't tell you about that one," he smiled. It would be hard to make our first kiss in mid battle sound normal.

"You haven't even told them the best part yet," I said.

"Oh yeah, apparently we weren't alone, some of our friends were watching," he said. "Long story short we were thrown into the canoe lake." The table erupted in laughter.

"And it was pretty much the best underwater kiss of all time," I said quietly.

**Yay, cuteness, I'm going to go be forever alone on a Friday night now.**

**Thanks for reading and leave a review!**

**-Arrietta**


	7. Chapter 7

***Percy is reading fanfiction***

***Leo walks in***

**"What are you doing?" Leo said.**

***Percy notices Leo***

**"Nothing, just checking my email!" Percy said.**

***Leo reads computer screen***

**"Seriously, you read things that other people write about your life?"**

**"You're just jealous that people don't love you like they love me."**

**"Please," Leo says. *rolls eyes because he knows he has hundreds of fangirls including Arrietta Vistoso***

**"What are you two doing?" Annabeth said.**

**"How long have you been in here?" Percy said.**

**"How long have ****_you _****been in here?" Annabeth said.**

**"Why does it matter?"**

**"Because this is MY cabin!"**

**"Oh," Percy said.**

**"Awkward" Leo said.**

**That's right, Leo joined the poorly written intro party. Honestly I give very little thought to those, so if my style and grammar is horrible I don't care.**

**So I have still been getting tons of reviews, but I'm a greedy person and I want more!**

**So yeah, read it, love it, tell me about it. Or read it, hate it, and tell me anyways.**

**(Percy POV)**

We had English after lunch, and lucky me, Paul was teaching it. I like Paul, I mean, he's a cool guy and all. It's just kind of weird to have your stepdad as your English teacher.

"Annabeth? What are you doing here?" he asked. Paul was a really bad actor.

"You knew she was coming?" I asked.

"No… yes. She wouldn't let me tell," he defended. I rolled my eyes.

"Don't roll your eyes at the teacher," he scolded.

"Yes Paul."

"It's Mr. Blofis."

"Yes Paul."

I took my seat next to Annabeth.

"Okay class, this term we are going to be reading Shakespeare's _The Tragedy of Julius Caesar_. A major element in this story is Roman politics. Does anyone here know anything about Roman politics?" he asked.

I couldn't help but laugh. Did I know anything about Roman politics? I'm only a former praetor of New Rome. I gave up my position to Jason, because I knew I belonged at Camp Half-Blood, but I was still praetor for about a week. Annabeth and I both raised our hands.

"Anyone besides our resident Romans," he joked, but only Annabeth and I understood it. Another kid raised his hand and gave a not-so-terrible explanation.

Paul continued to talk about Roman politics and I half listened. Then he passed out the little blue _Julius Caesar_ books. I was bored so I flipped through the pages, some of them had little pictures on them. One of them in particular caught my eye. It was a drawing of an eagle on a long stick, the Roman eagle standard. Exactly like the one I had rescued from Alaska in June. I had no idea what it was doing in this book, but it was pretty cool. Maybe the characters would go on an epic quest like mine to rescue it (I was wrong, there was no quest, just old people killing each other).

"Percy, stop drooling!" Annabeth scolded in a whisper. I had fallen asleep in class, again.

"Sorry," I whispered. She gave me her signature you're-a-disgrace-to-learning look. I returned it with my signature I-don't-really-care-I'll-just-work-at-McDonald's look. She might not have gotten that exact message; she might have thought I meant Burger King or Wendy's.

Class let out and we went to History. Needless to say I slept through that class too. The only history that really affected me was Greek, and the American Revolution was not Greek history (Yeah, George Washington was a son of Athena. It's really about demigods. Whatever, I still didn't care).

After History, I thought of something I really should have thought of earlier. "Where are you staying?" I asked Annabeth.

"Oh, Sally invited me to stay with you. In the spare bedroom, of course. If your mom had invited me to stay _with _you… that would have been weird."

I couldn't contain my joy. I thought seeing Annabeth at school every day would be awesome, but now she was staying with me! I gave her a huge hug.

"What are you doing?" she asked, awkwardly not hugging back.

"Hugging the best girlfriend in the world," I said. She gave in and returned the hug. "You know this means you get to help me with all of my homework, right?"

"Yeah, I figured that would be part of the deal, but I'm not doing it for you, you have learn something," she said. I shrugged, I just knew I wouldn't be failing any classes this year.

"I'll see you after class, meet me at Paul's car," I said.

"Okay, see you then," she said. I thought about all we had been through. Two wars had passed and the one person who mattered most to me was still here. Some people might think that the Fates were cruel to me, putting me through so much, but I was lucky. I had Annabeth, and nothing could ever be that bad if she was with me. We even got through Tartarus together, so high school really couldn't be that bad if she was with me. This could end up being my best year yet (not that the standards were that high).

After my next class I made my way to Paul's car to wait for him and Annabeth. Then I saw her, walking towards the car, blonde hair blowing gently in the wind, gray eyes sparkling. It was one of those rare occasions when she had a carefree look on her face, rather than her usual determined one. She was absolutely stunning without even trying.

"What are you staring at?" she asked.

"I wasn't staring at you," I said, but it was a complete lie. She rolled her eyes at me and laughed.

"So where's Paul?" she asked.

"He probably won't be out for a while, teacher stuff," I said.

"Oh, I guess we can just wait here unti- Percy look out!" she shouted. I turned around and saw two _dracanae_ coming straight for us. I instinctively pulled out Riptide and it uncapped into my bronze sword. I saw Annabeth already had her dagger out. We shared a single glance and we knew the battle plan.

I charged the snake lady on the left as Annabeth took the one on the right. It was a quick fight, a single slash and mine was gone. I turned and saw that Annabeth was already done and cleaning off her knife.

"Wow Percy, a whole eight seconds. I think you might be losing your touch," she teased.

"I didn't know it was a competition," I complained. She smirked at me and I couldn't help it, I leaned in for a kiss. Annabeth kissed me back.

"Ahem," a deep voice said. We pulled apart and saw Paul standing uncomfortably by his car. Annabeth blushed bright red and crawled into the back seat. I sat up front with Paul.

"So how was your first day?" Paul asked, trying to get past the awkward silence that had followed his interrupting our kiss.

"Good," we both said.

"No monsters?" he laughed.

"Just a few _dracanae,"_ Annabeth said. Paul's eyes bulged in shock.

"But we handled it," I said. Paul still looked nervous, as if more monsters would pop out of nowhere. Well, yeah that's kind of what monsters do, but I wasn't worried.

**Monsters and Interruptions! It just gets more and more exciting!**

**Thanks for reading!**

**-Arrietta**


	8. Chapter 8

***Piper is reading Percabeth fanfics***

***Annabeth enters the room***

**"What are you doing?"**

**"Nothing, certainly not reading about you and Percy spending Christmas together," Piper said.**

**"Piper..."**

**"You saw nothing, this never happened," Piper said *Piper is using charmspeak***

**"I saw nothing, this never happened," Annabeth said.**

**"Cool! It's like a Jedi mind trick!" Percy said.**

**"How did you get in my cabin?" Piper said.**

**"I'm not in your cabin, you saw nothing," Percy said. *Percy tries to use Jedi mind trick***

**"You can't charmspeak..."**

**"I'm Aquaman, I can do what I want!"**

**Oh gods that one was random...**

**So yeah... here's the next chapter.**

**Enjoy! **

"We're home!" Percy called as we entered the apartment. Excluding this morning, I hadn't been in Percy's apartment since when he had gone missing. I remembered my last visit with Sally, the day before I left on the Argo II. Sally said she had something to show me, that I should come immediately. I was confused at first as she walked to the answering machine and hit play. Then I heard his voice.

"Mom," he said. "Hey, I'm alive." That sentence sent me bursting into tears. There was no more what if. He was alive. He was _alive_. I would see him again. "Hera put me to sleep for a while, and then she took my memory, and… Anyway, I'm okay. I'm sorry. I'm on a quest-". He was on a quest? "I'll make it home. I promise. Love you." The 'love you' was meant for his mom, but that didn't stop me from believing in every way that he was saying it to me. "Love you, Love you" he repeated again in my head. If he remembered Sally, he would remember me too.

"In the kitchen," Sally called. The apartment wasn't small, but it wasn't large, it was cozy. It smelled like fresh baked cookies (probably blue) and it just felt… right. I wanted a place like this someday, with Percy. I didn't have much comprehension of what home was, camp was my only real home, but this felt like how it was supposed to be.

"Cookies!" Percy cried like a little kid, snatching three and finishing them in seconds.

"Stop, you'll spoil your dinner," Sally scolded. We both knew he wouldn't; Percy could eat anything.

"Come on Annabeth, we can do homework in my room," Percy said, mouth full of cookie. I followed him into his room. How do I put this gently… it was disgusting. There floor was littered with dirty clothes and papers and a few weapons. There was no way I could focus in here.

"How about we study in my room instead," I suggested.

"What's wrong with my room?"

"Everything," I said. Percy followed me to the bedroom next door. Since it was the guest bedroom, it was clean and orderly, just how I liked it. The only thing out of place was my large duffel bag that I had yet to unpack. A normal person could have ignored it, but let's face it, I'm not normal. It kept bugging, that one distracting thing out of place.

"I'm going to unpack really quick," I said.

"Cool, I'll help," he said. I unzipped the duffel, and of course the thing on top was none other than my bra. Percy jumped away from the thing like it might attack him.

"What's wrong?" I asked, laughing at his immaturity.

"Nothing, on second thought I'm just going to read a book and not look up until your done," he said.

"Afraid of a bra?" I asked.

"What? I didn't even see that. What bra?" he said. I laughed again. Other boyfriends see a bra and ogle over it. Percy sees a bra and runs like it's Medusa. That's my Seaweed Brain. Percy didn't look up from his book the entire time I unpacked, fearing he might see something worse.

"The coast is clear," I said when I had finished unpacking.

"Oh thank the gods, this book is horrible!"

"That's because you're reading the index," I said.

"That explains so much," he said.

I sat down on the bed next to him and opened my textbook. Percy had zoned out, with a faraway look in his eyes. I snapped my hand in front of his face.

"Wha-" he said.

"Earth to Seaweed Brain," I said.

"Oh, I was just thinking about how you're actually going to make me do homework," he said.

"Yeah, that's kind of what we're going to do," I said slowly. He was really cute when he was stupid. His black hair was as messy as ever**,** and his face was all scrunched up. My inner girly-girl got all fluttery. Yeah, the day my inner girly-girl comes to the surface is the day the Fields of Punishment puts in a nice day spa.

"Why do you torture me in these ways?" he said, overdramatically as he flopped down on the mattress. Something inside got the best of me and I flopped down next to him. Percy smiled his troublemaker smile. I couldn't help but smile back. I was normally so in control of everything, but something about his smile just made me forget everything but the two of us. It was a feeling that I should have despised, but I secretly liked it. I liked the thought of having Percy's arm around me and for once just being his girlfriend, not everything else we had become for each other.

I remembered that it was everything we had been through that made our relationship what it was. We protected each other, we trusted each other, we were there for each other. Percy was the one person I wanted by my side at the end of the world, and when it had come close, he was right there.

Percy kissed me on the lips for a few seconds, but I pulled away. "Homework first," I said. Percy moaned, but I figured a little motivation would help him focus.

**For anyone curious, the answering machine message is directly from SoN, I didn't write it.**

**Thanks for reading! Leave a review and stuff.**

**-Arrietta**


	9. Chapter 9

***Nico is being emo and all that stuff***

***Gets on fanfiction, reads stories about him and a million OCs***

**"What in Hades?"**

***Hazel walks in***

**"What is it?"**

**"The internet is obsessed with me... they think I'm eighteen or something... I'm only thirteen!"**

**"Well you are all emo and stuff..."**

**"I'm just the Ghost King, that doesn't make me automatically emo!"**

**"Did you even hear what you just said?"**

**"Don't worry Nico, I still think you're an annoying little kid," Percy said.**

**"How did you get in our cabin?"**

**"..." *Percy runs away***

***Annabeth enters the cabin***

**"Have you guys seen Percy? He keeps showing up in people's cabins for no reason and without explanation."**

**I have no idea why, but for some reason I find Percy randomly being in people's cabins really funny. I have a weird sense of humor. Oh well.**

**So I'm updating twice today because I really don't want to study for exams... Wish me luck because right now it looks like I'm going to fail all of them.**

**Enjoy the gifts that come from my procrastination!**

Homework was usually torture, but it was almost okay with Annabeth. Not to mention I kept telling myself, _finish this and she might kiss you._

"Percy, Paul and I have a meeting to go to with my editor; will you and Annabeth be okay to get dinner on your own?" My mom asked me.

"Yup," I said.

"Annabeth, please keep Percy from destroying the apartment," she teased.

"I'll try my best," Annabeth said. Mom and Paul left, leaving me and Annabeth alone in the apartment.

"So what do you want to do?" I asked.

"Eat, I'm starving," she said.

"I'll order a pizza," I said.

"Cool," she said. I ordered the pizza and joined Annabeth on the couch. I wrapped my arm around her and she leaned against my chest. I played with her golden curls, they were so perfect, just like her. Her gray eyes were lost in deep thought, which could have been anything from questioning the limits of the universe to trying to guess what pizza toppings I ordered. It was a perfect moment, a moment of peace in our chaotic lives.

"Are we going to visit camp this weekend?" she asked.

"Sure, I've only been gone two days and I already miss it," I said.

"I just left this morning and I do too. Plus I need to look over the building projects."

"Then we'll leave Friday, right after school," I said. Friday was only four days away, but it seemed so much more distant.

"Percy…" she said, fingering the beads of her necklace. I had a feeling there was something on her mind, but I couldn't tell what it was. It must have been pretty important for her to be hesitant in telling me, we told each other everything.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Remember when you were talking about Camp Jupiter, and how there were people there who grew up and lived their lives?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said, "I want something like that for us someday, someplace where we can just be happy, no quests, no monsters, no prophecies, just us."

"But Percy, that's the thing. We belong at Camp Half-Blood. I know that you might feel comfortable at Camp Jupiter, but I never could. Camp Half-Blood has always been my home. I just couldn't picture myself anywhere else."

"Annabeth," I said, "I don't care where we end up someday, as long as I end up with you."

She smiled and snuggled closer to me. "I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too," I said.

"Oh my gods you guys are so cute! Jason! Why can't you be more romantic like Percy?"

"Thanks Percy, now I have to buy flowers or something…"

"Are they done kissing? Can I look now?"

It was Piper, Jason, Hazel, Frank, and Leo in an Iris-message.

"What are you doing?" Annabeth asked.

"Keeping an eye on our favorite little couple. We don't want a repeat of the night in the stable, do we?" Leo smirked.

"We told you nothing happened!" Annabeth defended.

"Yup, "nothing" happened," he winked at me. Leo was delusional.

"Leo, please shut up," Hazel said.

"No hablo ingles."

"Leo!"

Leo and Hazel continued fighting while Piper pestered Jason about not being as romantic as me. I didn't know what she was talking about, my idea of a romantic evening was eating pizza and watching _Avatar: the Last Airbender_, which is exactly what I had planned for tonight. Frank stood awkwardly in the middle of the image as everyone else fought.

"So, why are you calling?" I asked.

"Uh, it was Piper's idea. She said she wanted to make sure you guys are okay, but I think she was just wanted to talk to Annabeth about boys are something…" Frank said.

"Frank! That is not true!" Piper said, taking a pause from her bickering with Jason.

"Then why are you talking about boys?" he said.

"Is there a point to this call, or…"

"Ooh, pick me, I have a point!" Leo said.

"Yeah, a pointed head."

"Haha, Frank is so funny," Leo said flatly. "But I was going to say that today should be a day of celebration!"

"Oh gods, what mechanical monster did you fix? Please tell me it wasn't set loose in the camp again," Piper said.

"Umm, it was a bronze toucan, but that's not what I was talking about. I was talking about the fact that I have successfully gone three days without catching anything on fire!"

"My toast, this morning."

"Jason, would you just let me have a moment!"

"Was that the whole reason you called?" I asked.

"Apparently…" Frank said.

"Whelp, we've got stuff to do. Kay, thanks, bye!" Leo said. And with that the message disappeared.

"Well that was random," Annabeth said.

"Agreed."

**Okay... Iris-messaging mayhem is fun!**

**I don't know it seemed like a good idea at the time.**

**Thanks for reading and please leave a review!**

**-Arrietta**


	10. Chapter 10

***Percy is eating blue food***

**"I love blue food"**

***eats more blue food***

**Okay... I really couldn't think of anything else to go up there... so we have Percy enjoying blue food.**

**Anyways... here is the next chapter. **

The rest of the evening was uneventful (Wow, when was the last time that had happened?). We returned to our position on the couch and watched Percy's favorite show, _Avatar the Last Airbender_. He really had an obsession with that show. He kept commenting on Katara's waterbending etc. etc.

I don't know when it happened, but at some point we both fell asleep in each other's arms. It was a good feeling. Just having my head so close to his heartbeat was comforting. Having his arm wrapped around my shoulders made me feel safe, something I hadn't felt for a long time.

All of those nights during the war had been rough, not to mention the nights in Tartarus, but I couldn't even revisit those without losing my composure. We got little sleep, and when we did it was restless and riddled with dreams. Now I had a peaceful rest in my Seaweed Brain's protecting arms.

I awoke to the sizzle of bacon cooking. I got up from the couch and saw Sally cooking breakfast.

"Good morning sweetie," she said. That was an interesting thing to say considering I had just been using her son's chest as a pillow. My mom might have a reaction more along the lines of smiting everyone.

"Morning," I said awkwardly. I was pretty comfortable around Sally, but there was no getting past the awkwardness in this situation. At least on my side it was, Sally seemed to not mind at all.

"Sorry, I probably should have woken you up last night, but Percy hasn't been sleeping well lately and he finally looked like he was getting a good night's sleep. Not to mention it was pretty adorable," Sally smiled as I joined her in the kitchen.

"Oh," I said, "We were just watching TV and I guess we fell asleep…"

"You don't have to explain. I trust you Annabeth, you're a smart girl," she said. She leaned in and whispered, "Plus I know Percy is terrified of bras; I have nothing to worry about." We both laughed.

"Bacon!" a suddenly awake Percy shouted.

I got ready for school, today with my hair just in a simple ponytail. Then I joined Percy, Sally, and Paul in the kitchen for breakfast. Soon it was time for us to leave for school.

We arrived at school at 7:30, giving us half an hour before classes started. On the way to the cafeteria we ran into Laura.

"Hey," she called to us. "I saw you get out of the same car, do you carpool to school?"

"Um, not exactly. I'm actually staying with Percy and his family," I said.

"Oh, wow. That's nice… What about your family?" she asked, clearly bemused.

"Well, my dad and my step-mom live way out in California…"

"And they're letting you stay in New York?!" she asked, shocked at this new information.

"Uh, yeah, the situation is kind of lengthy, I'd rather not discuss it," I said.

"Oh, sorry," she said.

There was an awkward silence.

"To the cafeteria!" Percy said at last, and we followed him as he did a ridiculous march towards the door.

Inside the cafeteria, we went to our same table in the corner, where Jeremy and Tara were already sitting. We greeted them and took our seats. Percy and Jeremy started talking, about sports or something, so I decided to take the opportunity to make friends with the two girls. I wanted to have some friends in this school other than Percy.

Thankfully Tara began the conversation, experience proves that I was never good at that.

"Hey Annabeth, are you going to the dance next Friday?"

"What dance?"

"The back to school dance we have every year. Didn't Percy ask you?" Laura said.

"No, he'll probably avoid it at all costs. He hates dances," I said.

"Yeah, that sounds like Percy," she laughed, "You should just force him to come anyway, we'll all be there."

"We'll see," I said. Dances weren't really my thing either, but it could be fun. "Who are you taking?"

"I don't know how, but Jeremy convinced me to go with him," Laura said in an annoyed voice.

"Come on, it'll be fun!" Jeremy interrupted.

"I'd really rather get my teeth pulled," she said.

"Too bad, you have a date with me," he said.

"Are you guys talking about the dance next Friday?" Percy asked.

"Yea, way to not tell your girlfriend about it," Tara snapped.

"Sorry, I thought we would be visiting camp that weekend," he said.

"I think we could stay back for the weekend and go to the dance," I said.

"Cool," he shrugged.

"That's it? That's how you ask me to the dance, 'Cool,'" I said.

"Oh, sorry," Percy got down on one knee, "Annabeth, you are the most beautiful girl in all of Goode High School, would you do me the honor of accompanying me to the dance," he asked, struggling to keep a straight face.

"Yes, I will go to the dance with you," I grinned.

"Good, I wouldn't want to go with anyone else."

**Well that was cute!**

**Thanks for reading, and leave a review because they make me smile. And sometimes if I get the email in class it gets me in trouble for smiling so much...**

**-Arrietta**


	11. Chapter 11

***Percy is studying for finals***

***If you believed that you haven't actually read the books, he's really watching Avatar the Last Airbender (again)***

***Annabeth comes in***

**"Percy! You need to study!"**

**"Nope"**

**"Come on!"**

**"Nope"**

**Guess who has exams in two days and still hasn't opened the book. That's right, me! I have no motivation. I keep telling myself "What would Annabeth do?" but it doesn't work. It's this fanfic, it's addicting to write. **

**Anyway, enjoy this chapter while I stay up all night studying (or at least trying to).**

Finally, Friday had come. Annabeth and I were going back to camp. Paul had lent me his car for the weekend and we were currently driving down the highway towards Camp Half-Blood.

Annabeth had talked nonstop from the moment we got in the car about all of the architectural plans she had for rebuilding camp. I listened to her talk, because even though I hardly understood it, I loved the way she spoke so passionately about it. Her eyes lit up and she spoke with new animation in her voice.

At long last we pulled onto the little country road by Half-Blood Hill and Thalia's pine tree. It would be nice to see Thalia again, but she was always so busy with the Hunters we hardly ever saw her.

We held hands and ran up the hill. I tripped. I slip back down the hill, pulling Annabeth down with me. We laughed as we rolled down the hill, finally stopping at the bottom.

"You are such a Seaweed Brain," she laughed.

"Guys, they're here!" a familiar voice yelled. It was Grover, running down the hill to catch up with us.

"Hey G-man," I hugged him, "How's saving the wild coming?"

"Alright, I guess. Juniper's getting a little annoyed that I'm always gone, though," he said.

We climbed back up the hill and entered the camp. I was suddenly flooded with happy memories. Everything brought a good memory, the smell of the strawberries, the sound of the forges, the clanking of swords, it was home.

As we entered camp, a crowd quickly formed. Jason and Piper were the first to come over. Annabeth and Piper did a girly hug and squeal thing and began talking about gods know what. Then the Stolls came over, fighting with Katie Gardner. They had played a prank, Katie was mad, same as usual. They were followed by Hazel and Frank who looked lost. They were staying with a handful of other Romans who were helping us rebuild after our little… misunderstanding.

Next came some of my other friends, like Will Solace, Chris Rodriguez, and even Clarisse LaRue. Nico showed up near the back of the crowd, being as dark and mysterious as ever. I looked for Rachel, but then remembered that she was still at Clarion Ladies Academy, so we wouldn't see her. The last to come was Leo, who shouted annoying things like "Lovebirds are back," "Someone find Hedge, these two need a chaperone," and "It's okay, I'll just go die alone with mechanical cats."

There was a lot of confused greetings and hugging, mostly from the girls, because manly men like us don't hug. Okay, so Leo hugged me… I wonder about that kid.

Clarisse punched me, it wouldn't be camp if Clarisse wasn't there to beat me up. She was still bigger and buffer than me, so it hurt, a lot.

People kept asking questions and yelling things and frankly it made my head hurt. I guess a quiet week away made me forget about the chaotic mess that was Camp Half-Blood. I wanted to talk to everyone, but I also just wanted to spend a peaceful moment with Annabeth. I knew the chances were slim, the whole point of this was so that she could oversee an entire week's worth of reconstruction. She would be busy.

The crowd finally dispersed, leaving just Grover, Annabeth, and me. Just like old times. For some reason, Grover was really skittish, like more so than normal.

"You okay?" I asked him.

"No, I'm really not," he said.

"What's wrong?"

"Well, I got a necklace for Juniper, like a really nice one," he stammered.

"And?"

"It fell in the lake."

"Well, that sounds like a problem for Percy, I need to go talk to Malcolm," Annabeth said, running off with her blonde curls bouncing in their ponytail.

"Don't worry, I'll get the necklace," I said.

"Thank you so much," he said, and we headed for the lake. On the way he told me how he dropped it in the lake in the first place. I could tell you that story, but we don't have that kind of time. Just take my advice and don't try to eat enchiladas and canoe at the same time.

I got the necklace, which was a really beautiful silver one with a delicate silver leaf charm on it.

"You got this for Juniper?"

"Yep," Grover said.

"It's really nice, I'm sure she'll love it," I said.

"You think so? I wasn't sure, and I didn't want to get her something she wouldn't like…"

"It's great, maybe I should get something like this for Annabeth," I said, thinking about the way her eyes would light up if I did. She would say 'I love you' and throw her arms around me. That would be nice.

"Well I got this at the jewelry store a few miles up the road. I could take you sometime."

"How about now?" I said.

"Now?"

"Yeah, I have a car and money, let's go," I said.

"Um, alright," Grover agreed. We walked back over the hill and to the car. This was going to be a good weekend.

**What do you think Percy is going to do? You should tell me in a review. **

**Thanks for reading!**

**-Arrietta**


	12. Chapter 12

***Leo is making Christmas cookies***

***kitchen catches on fire***

**"Valdez!" Piper screams.**

***Leo runs for his life***

**Okay... after this I'm going to try to bake cookies without burning down the house. If I don't update tomorrow you can assume the worst. **

**Behold! A chapter!**

I like architecture… I also like spending lazy afternoons in the strawberry fields with Percy. After spending an entire week with him, you would think I could stand to spend a few hours of working with my siblings. Nope, all of my designs kept looking suspiciously like Percy's eyebrows. Yes, his eyebrows, that's how unfocused I was. I don't even know how I made a building like an eyebrow, but it happened.

Malcolm noticed it. Curse is ability to read emotions, he knew exactly what I was thinking.

"Annabeth, you can see Percy at dinner. Work now," he snapped.

"I wasn't thinking about Percy," I lied.

"Yes you were, you got that look in your eyes," he said.

"What look in my eyes?"

"The look you get when you think about Percy," Malcolm smirked.

"I do not have a look like that!"

"Yes you do," the entire cabin agreed. No asked them.

I grumbled and returned to my work. I had no such look in my eyes. Did I? My mind always did get a little fuzzy when I thought about Percy, and his green eyes. And his salty lips. And my hands ruffling through his black hair…

"Annabeth, focus!" Malcolm scolded. I returned to my work, trying to keep Percy off my mind. Work, work was good. Work was fun! Kissing Percy was fun. What was I doing? I was thinking like an Aphrodite girl.

Finally it was time for dinner. I had gotten an impressive amount of work done, but not as much as I would have liked. I sighed; I would have to work late if I wanted to get it all done.

We couldn't eat in the pavilion because it was… under construction. There was food and a few tables near where the pavilion was, but we could pretty much eat wherever we wanted. As I left my cabin I was grabbed by a familiar pair of hands.

"Who wants a picnic?" Percy grinned, holding a picnic basket. I didn't know where he got it, but I was just glad that I would be able to steal a few moments with Percy during dinner. Percy took my hand and pulled me towards the beach.

"So what's the occasion?" I asked as we unpacked the picnic basket. It was much more than I thought he would be capable. It was a blanket and Chinese take-out. Sorry, I never had high expectations for Percy being romantic, a blanket and Chinese food actually showed a lot of effort on his part.

"The occasion is I love you," he said, smiling mischievously. He was up to something, but I was too mentally exhausted to try figure it out. He patted his pocket nervously, probably checking for Riptide like he often did. It was a stupid habit to check for a pen he couldn't lose, but he was Percy…

"I love you too," I said. Percy sat down on the blanket and put his arm around me. He gave me a gentle kiss and smiled. I smiled too. I breathed in his scent, he smelled just like saltwater, but somehow better. It was another perfect moment, just having Percy's arm around me. Everything would be alright.

"Hey Wise Girl," he said.

"What?"

"I love you."

"You said that already," I said.

"But I mean it, I really do love you," he said, reaching for his pocket again.

"I love you too Seaweed Brain," I said. I really meant it. I loved everything about him. Everything. Even when he was being the single most annoying person in the world, I loved him. During the war, I tried to think about my life if Percy died, to prepare myself for the worst. I couldn't do it. I could not picture myself without Percy. He was too much of my life. Those months when he was gone, I wasn't whole. I was a partial person. If Percy was gone forever… I couldn't even think of it.

"I don't ever want to be without you, when I forgot my entire life, even myself, I remembered you. You are my entire life. I'd rather go back through Tartarus than lose you," he said, sounding increasingly serious. We had both agreed not to talk about Tartarus anymore, but he was talking about it. I hadn't heard his voice sound this serious since the war, when we thought we might die.

"Percy…" I said. He took a little black box out of his pocket.

"Annabeth, I know we're only seventeen, but I know that you're the person I want with me for the rest of my life. Please, we don't have to get married for years now, just make me the promise that you'll be mine forever someday," he opened the box. There it was. A diamond ring. It was simple white gold with a single square diamond.

"Annabeth Chase, will you marry me?" he said. I was crying. I always knew I would marry Percy (if I lived long enough), but I never expected him to propose now. I couldn't think. I could always think! What was Percy doing to me?

"Yes!" I said. "Yes, yes, yes," I repeated. I hugged him.

"I love you," he whispered. "I just want something that reminds me that we can make it in this world. Something to remind me that we can have a future. Something that tells me that we are forever."

"You don't need a ring to tell you that, but I love it anyway," I said. I kissed him and everything was perfect.

**Oh snap! (If you read that like Raven then I love you)**

**Engagement?! Who knows what will happen next!**

**Well I do but I'm not telling.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**-Arrietta**


	13. Chapter 13

**"I'm so forever alone" Leo says.**

**Entire female population of the fandom: "LET ME LOVE YOU!"**

**That was pretty much me throughout all of MoA. I kind of want to do a story about Leo, but I have zero ideas. **

**Anyway... in case you couldn't guess this is going to be a pretty major turning point in the story, so enjoy!**

So Annabeth and I were engaged… that was impulsive even for me. I didn't regret it, not even a little. I was actually glad I did it. I really did want to be with Annabeth forever, and now I had proved it. I felt great, like I could take anything. I hadn't felt this powerful since I had the curse of Achilles, I actually felt better than that.

I had never seen Annabeth so emotional. She cried at first, and I thought I had just ruined everything. Then she smiled and said yes. It was the greatest feeling in the world. It was like this one moment had made everything worth it, all the wars, all the suffering was banished by the joy in the moment.

We happily finished our Chinese food. In retrospect, I probably should have tried harder for an engagement meal, but it was short notice.

After dinner a new thought crossed my mind. Other people might actually care about the fact that we're engaged. So far only Grover knew, and he almost had a panic attack when I walked to the ring section in the store. It was a good thing he didn't, because Grover panic attacks sometimes turn into Panic attacks, and those are scary.

Would they be happy for us? Probably, almost everyone was happy when we finally got together, excluding a few Aphrodite girls (*cough* Drew). They would probably also think I'm an idiot. Ten drachmas said Clarisse would punch me.

So we quietly returned to the grassy area where everyone was eating. For about thirty seconds I thought they might not notice, but apparently we were interesting to watch, because all eyes were on us as we approached. That also didn't make sense to me- why everyone was always watching us. It almost made sense at camp, you know, being the heroes of Olympus and all, but it even happened at school. I didn't get it and it made me uncomfortable.

Piper was the first one to notice it, and she didn't keep it t herself.

"Hey Annabeth where have you guys be- Oh my gods what is that on your hand? Oh gods that's a ring! Are you engaged?! Did Percy just propose?!" she was practically screaming.

Annabeth tried to hush her, but it was too late, everyone had heard. Chaos broke loose.

"You're getting married!"

"Can I be a bridesmaid?"

"How did he ask you?"

There were so many questions and shouts and I didn't know who most of them were coming from. Most people were trying to get a look at Annabeth's finger, a few guys patted me on the back, and I saw Drew and her friends seething with anger at the edge of the crowd.

Eventually I couldn't take it anymore. I grabbed Annabeth's hand and made a run for it. She looked like she would be sick, not exactly something you wanted your new fiancée to do. Wow, _fiancée_, that was a fun new word.

I didn't really know where I was going, so I ran to my cabin out of habit. My cabin had not been too terribly destroyed, just some scorch marks, but it was still usable. I pulled Annabeth through the door and sat on the bed to catch my breath.

"Sorry about that," I panted.

"It's okay," she said.

"Guess I didn't really think ahead," I said.

"Typical of you to make a life-changing decision about your future without thinking ahead," she laughed.

"I was only thinking about you and how pretty a ring would look on your hand," I said.

"Please, my hands aren't even pretty, they're scarred" she said. I took her hands in mine, they were strong and scarred. I had never thought Annabeth would be self-conscious of anything, she was amazing. Her body was tall and athletic, her hair was golden and radiant. Her skin was tanned and her face was perfect. Her eyes, she had the most intelligent eyes. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen.

"I think your hands are perfect, each scar is a story, and most of them are ours," I said. She smiled a little and sat next to me on the bed.

"Thank you Seaweed Brain," she said. "So are we really going to get engaged?"

"Not going to, _are, _you are my fiancée, you're stuck with me forever," I said.

"I think I can live with that," she said. She leaned in for a kiss and I happily complied.

"You guys are breaking like fifty camp rules right now." It was Nico, standing in the doorway.

"Go away," I said, "We're busy."

"You forgot, didn't you?" he said.

"What?"

"Half the cabins are destroyed; Jason, Hazel, and I have been staying in your cabin," he said.

"Uh, fine," I groaned.

"I should probably be going," Annabeth stood up and left again. It felt like she did that a lot.

Nico sat down on the bed across from mine. "So you proposed?" he asked.

"Yep," I said frankly.

"I knew you would someday, you really love her."

"Yeah, I really do," I said. I was still unsure about Nico. He wasn't the little kid who played Mythomagic anymore, but he wasn't the world hating little kid who blamed me for his sister's death either. He was different. He had gone through Tartarus alone, and it had changed him. He was already a little creepy with his whole "ghost king" thing, but now he was just broken. He was alone in the world, his only real friends were the dead. Yet he still seemed to understand love, after all he had been through.

"Congratulations, you got Piper to reach a new level of relationship envy," Jason said as he entered the room.

"Sorry…"

"It was insane, she was all like 'Did you see the ring? Are you going to propose soon? Probably not, gods, Annabeth is so lucky,'" he said. His mock Piper voice was terrible.

"Sorry…"

"Now I'm probably going to have to propose, I'm only sixteen!"

"I'm only seventeen… Look, I doubt Piper wants you to propose, she's an Aphrodite girl, just let her have her moment," I said. I had no idea what I was doing.

"So I get to be best man at the wedding, right?" Jason said.

"Actually I was going to ask Grover-"

"No way, I'm going to be the best man!" Nico interrupted.

"Dude, you're like twelve, back off," Jason said.

"I'm thirteen and I've known him longer!"

"Guys, shut up," I said. "We aren't even going to get married for years now, it's just an engagement."

"Just an engagement? Has marriage become that meaningless nowadays?" Hazel said, coming in the door. I was used to an empty Cabin with the occasional Tyson, but this was too much. Having this many people in my cabin made my head hurt.

"That's not what I meant, I meant, I mean getting married is such a big deal that we aren't going to do it for a few years," I stuttered. I lied down on the bed and closed my eyes.

"What is he doing?" Jason asked.

"Sleeping, and unless you all want to sleep on drenched mattresses I suggest you shut up and go to bed."

**So, yeah I put a little Nico in... I know a lot of you have been asking for him. Thalia's going to be in the next chapter!**

**Thank you to the reviewer who told me about my misuse of fiance/fiancee. I think I changed all of them.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**-Arrietta**


	14. Chapter 14

***Percy and Annabeth are eating popcorn and watching TLT movie***

**"No," Annabeth said.**

**"Just no," Percy said.**

***Percy turns off TV and stabs the DVD with Riptide***

**"Hey movie! I'm stabbing you with my pen sword that UNCAPS!"**

**"Is that actually the part you're the most angry about?" Annabeth asked.**

**"I mean... how dare this brunette girl pretend to be my beautiful Annabeth?"**

***rolls eyes* "Seaweed Brain"**

**For my complete movie rant, please visit my profile. It's quite extensive.**

**Back to happy things! Remember that exam I was avoiding studying for? Well I never actually studied... and I got an A! Annabeth moment!**

**I'm proud of myself... but I still have an exam tomorrow. And I know I actually have to study for that one.**

**Wish me luck! **

The first thing I did was Iris-message Thalia.

"Hey Thals," I said. Thalia was in silver tent with various animal skins hanging around.

"Annabeth! What's up?" she said.

"Oh, not much," I said, quite obviously showing my newly ring adorned finger.

"Oh that idiot did not!" she shouted.

"He did!" I squealed.

"And you said yes?!"

"Yeah, of course I did, I love him," I said.

"Men," she said in an annoyed voice, for a moment she sounded just like her former rival, Zöe Nightshade.

"Come on Thals, be happy for me."

"I am, really, I can tell you love him, even if he is a Seaweed Brain," she said.

"Thalia, not getting any ideas, are you?" a voice said from off of the image.

"No, my lady, men are terrible and Annabeth is silly to have fallen in love," Thalia said, but I could see the old glint in her eyes. She was happy for me. Things didn't work out for her and Luke, and she was happy at least I found happiness.

"So we won't be getting married for a while, but when the time comes, will you be my maid of honor?" I asked.

"I would love to!" she said.

"One of my Hunters in a wedding? I won't have it," the voice, Artemis, said.

"But my lady, I'll be the _maid _of honor. Like _maiden_. Please, she is my best friend," Thalia pleaded.

"Fine," Artemis said. "But I still don't encourage it."

"Thank you my lady! Sorry Annabeth, but I have to go," she said.

"Bye!" I said.

The image faded. I was so happy. I had everything I had ever wanted. I sat down on my bed and smiled.

"Are you really going to marry him?" Malcolm said. I had not seen him before; he had probably come in while I was Iris-messaging. He looked sad, like there was some kind of burden on his shoulders.

"Yes, I plan on it," I said.

"You know, Percy came to me before dinner, he asked for my permission," he said.

"He asked for _your_ permission?" I asked.

"Yes," he said simply.

"Well… what did you say?"

"I said yes, but I'm still not sure," he said.

"What do you mean you're not sure? What's wrong with Percy?"

"Percy's fine, you're just my little sister, I don't want you to get hurt again." The word _again _was like a dagger.

"Malcolm, Percy isn't like that, he wouldn't turn sides, he wouldn't leave me, he's too loyal," I said.

"It's not what Percy would do, it's what could happen to Percy," he said. I didn't understand him, it wasn't making sense. "Percy would die to protect you, and being who he is he already gets attacked plenty enough. I have a feeling that between the two, he might reach a battle someday that he can't win. I don't want you to get hurt when you wake up one day and he's gone…"

There it was again. That word: _again_. He didn't say it, but he didn't have too. Malcolm saw how hurt I was when Percy disappeared more than anyone else. He knew how much pain Percy could cause me without even trying.

"Malcolm," I said, tears forming, "We made it through two wars, I think we can handle it."

"I hope that you can, I want you to be happy," he said.

"Percy makes me happy," I said, and that was enough for Malcolm to finally understand.

**Yay! Touching brother-sister moment. There's not much about Annabeth's relationships with her siblings in the books, but I've always found it so interesting. Especially with Malcolm as the really over-protective brother. **

**Thanks for reading!**

**-Arrietta**


	15. Chapter 15

***Hazel is chilling with some unicorns***

***Entire world is jealous***

**So... sorry I didn't update yesterday. I was trying this new thing where I try to be social and talk to people, but we just ended up making a facebook page about a unicorn. I have an awkward life...**

**Anyway, we didn't die yet! I was actually worried because it's the winter solstice and the gods always try to kill people on the solstices. But so far I'm still alive, so yay!**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

"Do you think my mom will freak out?" I asked as we drove back Sunday afternoon.

"Probably, but in a good way," Annabeth said.

"I hope your right," I said. My mom is a great person, but I didn't know if even she would be okay with this.

"I could not wear the ring, it could be a secret," Annabeth suggested.

"That's not what I want, I want the world to know that you're mine, that we are permanent," I said.

"People at school will talk," she said.

"Let them, it's never bothered me before." I remembered all of the years I had been bullied. I wasn't bullied so much anymore, but people still talked. I never really did fit in. I had my friends, but I was far from popular. Not that popular was something I tried for. Popular people were identical and boring. I got along better with misfits, like the people at camp.

"I guess you're right," she said. She played with the little diamond. I wished I could have gotten her a nicer ring, like she deserved, but I didn't have that kind of money. Maybe someday I could get her a better one, but I had a feeling she wouldn't want it. For her, the meaning behind something was more important than the thing itself. Her camp necklace, for example, was frayed and faded, but she wore it with pride because of what it meant.

We walked into the apartment. My mom and Paul were sitting on the couch, watching TV.

"Hey, how was camp?" she asked.

"Good," I said.

"Anything exciting happen?"

"Um, yeah, can we talk to you guys?"

"Is everyone okay? Did something go wrong?" she asked, sudden concern in her voice.

"No everything's fine, we just have some good news," I started, still having no idea how I was supposed to say this.

"Oh, what is it?" she asked.

"Well, Annabeth and I are engaged," I blurted out. I should have done some long speech about reasons and explanations, but it was easier to just get to the point.

My mom laughed, "Oh, that's cute, what really happened?"

"No, that really happened," I said, holding up Annabeth's left hand. My mom got very quiet. "Mom, are you okay?"

"I'm fine Percy, please, could you just give me a minute," she stood and walked into her bedroom, tears forming in her eyes. I felt horrible. I had just made my mom, the happiest person in the world, cry.

"I'm sorry," Annabeth said quietly.

"It's not your fault, I'm the one who proposed," I said.

"I'm going t go make sure your mom's alright," Paul said, heading for the bedroom. Annabeth and I sat down on the couch.

"Do you think she'll want us to call it off?" Annabeth asked.

"No, she wouldn't do that," I said.

"I don't want to do anything that makes her unhappy, I mean, she's like my second mom," she said.

"I think she'll be fine, I'll go talk to her," I said. As I walked to the bedroom, I passed Paul, who was on his way out. Paul didn't say anything, but I could tell that e wanted me to talk to her too.

"Hey Mom," I said as I entered the room. She was sitting on the bed, trying to hold back the tears. She always tried to play brave.

She didn't respond, so I continued talking, "I'm sorry I told you like that. You know how I just blurt things out."

She laughed a sad little laugh. "I'm sorry I reacted like this, I am happy for you," she said, smiling through the tears. "You just grew up too fast, too young. You were out risking your life when you were twelve. You've been through more in a single day than most people will go through in their lives. I guess I just wish you were still my little boy, but you're not, you're a hero. And now you're growing up again."

"It's not like we're getting married now," I said, tears forming in my eyes now. "We're going to finish high school. Annabeth might even go through college first. We can still be kids for a while."

"Tell me, why did you propose?" she asked.

"Because I love her, I want to be with her forever. I don't ever want to lose her."

"I think that you are ready for this," she said.

Once we had dried our eyes, we returned to the living room. My mom immediately hugged Annabeth and congratulated her. Annabeth looked relieved that my mom was supportive of the engagement.

**Thanks for reading!**

**I'm going to go post more unicorn pictures on facebook. I know that you're jealous.**

**-Arrietta**


	16. Chapter 16

**"Annabeth! I'm having an identity crisis!"**

**"Oh gods, what is it now Seaweed Brain?"**

**"I was in biology and we were talking about the different kingdoms and stuff, and how humans are mammals."**

**"What's your point?"**

**"I was thinking about how we're not really human, which means that I might not be a mammal! What if I'm not a mammal?!"**

**"..."**

**"What if I've gone my whole life thinking I was a mammal and then suddenly I'm not?"**

**"You thought you were a human until you were twelve... Look Percy, why does it even matter if you're a mammal?"**

**"Because if I'm not a mammal that means I could be a fish or something!"**

**"Seaweed Brain..."**

**That entire scenario popped into my head the other day and I just had to use it. Sorry if it was weird, but I think it's a legitimate question. **

** Moving on, (I used a transition because I'm still in the habit of formal essay writing) here is the next chapter. It's the moment you've all been waiting for... School Reactions! **

I was in Ancient Greek class when it happened. I was talking to Lauren about the dance next Friday and what dresses we would wear. It was normal girl stuff that was highly foreign to me.

"What's that?" she said suddenly.

"What?" I asked.

"On your hand, is that a ring?" she asked.

"Um yeah…"

"That looks like an engagement ring… That's not an engagement ring is it?"

"Uh, yeah…. Percy got it for me," I said. Now she would make a scene. It was bound to happen eventually. I was surprised I actually made it to class before someone noticed it.

"What did I do?" Percy said groggily, getting up from his morning nap.

"You proposed to Annabeth?" Laura asked.

"Oh yeah, I'm going back to sleep," Percy said, and put his head back on the table.

"Wait, so he actually proposed, like you guys are engaged? Like as in getting married?" Laura asked.

"Yeah, but we aren't getting married anytime soon," I said casually.

"But he still proposed. No offense, but don't you think that it's a little ridiculous. We're in high school, and you guys have only been dating for about a year."

"Well we have known each other since we were twelve, and we've been through a lot."

"Enough to justify an engagement in junior year?"

"Probably more," I said. Laura looked confused, but it was understandable.

"I still don't get it. Why did he do it? You're not preg-"

"No, no, no, no! Not even a remote possibility! At all!"

"Sorry," she said. I was starting to feel sick. "So why did he do it?"

"Because I love her, now please let me sleep," Percy said. We were silent the rest of class.

Word must have spread fast, because I was practically attacked in my next class. Girls I didn't even know were surrounding me, trying to hear the story. I tried to ignore them, but I could feel their eyes on me the entire lesson.

Advanced Chemistry was already my least favorite class. After the little principal's office incident, my teacher made me a target. She basically invited the other students to hate me. After a quiz she would say "I was going to curve this, but Miss Chase got a perfect score, so you all should have too," and I would earn wicked glares from the class. She would ask a question and when no one raised their hand she would say "Miss Chase knows the answer," and force me answer. The class hated me and saw me as a teacher's pet know-it-all.

Today was even more horrible. Everyone was glaring at me. The girls glared at my ring with envy. Percy was basically the guy that every girl wanted, though they never showed it. He was the "hot loser" as I heard him talked about. And now the "hot loser" was taken forever, their little fantasies were crushed.

Classes passed by, in each one more and more rumors had spread. I received more and more glares. By the time lunch rolled around I felt like I had been spending the day boxing with Clarisse (I've done it, not fun).

Then I saw his him, waiting at the lunch table. A feeling of giddiness filled inside me. And also a feeling of anger. It was Percy's stupid ring that was putting me through all of this. His stupid, beautiful ring that he gave to me because he loved me. Because he was afraid of losing me, because he would love me forever. My emotions were fighting.

I hurried my pace towards the table, but was stopped by an unpleasantly familiar orange face. The Oompa Loompa was back!

"Hey Blondie," she said.

"I swear I will gut you if you ever call me that again," I said. I had absolutely no desire to talk to this girl. And I had absolutely no idea why she wanted to talk to me.

"Chill girly, I'm just being friendly." I was getting more of an annoying-as-a-Fury-duct-taped-to-your-face vibe, but she could call it friendly.

"What do you want?"

"I want to know how a dork like you got a boy like that to ask you to marry him. Sorry Hun, you're cute in an… _interesting_ way, but you aren't Percy Jackson worthy cute. Especially not Percy Jackson _marrying_ cute," she said.

"Okay, I'm going to go sit with my _fiancé_ now," I said. She looked like I had slapped her in the face. I had lost all sympathy for that… creature. She was just annoying.

I finally reached the table. Percy saw my face and hugged me.

"Rough day?" he asked.

"Yes, and it's all your fault," I said.

"I'm sorry," he kissed the top of my head. Tara, who was sitting at the table, started to hum "Here Comes the Bride".

"Please, tell us why you guys are engaged, Annabeth is way out of Percy's league," Jeremy said.

"I already told you what happened in Gym," Percy grumbled.

"Yes, but we're all here now, so tell it again," Sean said.

"There's not much of a story. I thought 'I want to marry Annabeth,' so I bought a ring and the rest is history," he said.

"Boo, give us a good story," Tara said. Percy gave them the undemigodified version of the proposal. Laura and Tara made a lot of cutesy commentary while the guys just laughed and called Percy an idiot.

"So, like, it's for real?" Jeremy asked.

"Yep, for the five billionth time, it is for real," Percy said.

"I think it's romantic," Tara said.

"I think this is going to be a disaster," Jeremy said.

"Why would it be a disaster?" Tara asked.

"We're in high school! High school relationships aren't forever, even if they have been dating for a year. It won't work out," he said.

"Gee, I'm glad I have your support," Percy said sarcastically.

"I'm just saying what I think. You say you love her, and maybe you do, but do you love her enough for engagement?"

"If I didn't think we were ready for this, I wouldn't have asked her," Percy said, slight anger rising in his voice.

"Fine. Hurray for love, go live happily ever after," Jeremy said, entirely unconvinced.

**Wow Jeremy, rude much?**

**Awkwardly questioning the actions of my own characters. Llama. I haven't slept in two days I have no idea where my brain is.**

**Thanks for reading and leave beautiful reviews so I can cherish them forever!**

**-Arrietta**


	17. Chapter 17

**"Percy! Where are you?"**

**"I am not Percy, I am Melon Lord!"**

**"..."**

**Sorry, I had to do that. Okay, so a lot of people were freaking out and thinking that Jeremy liked Annabeth... and that wasn't really what I was going for. I was just trying to show how there were some people who really thought that they were being stupid about the engagement thing. So... yeah. **

**Here is the chapter you have all been waiting for (I know I said that about the last one, but this time I mean it), the dance chapter!**

**Enjoy!**

I couldn't believe I let Annabeth convince me to go to this dance with her. It wasn't even a formal dance and I felt awkwardly overdressed. Outside of my school uniform, the only thing I wore was jeans and a t-shirt. Now I was wearing some khaki dress pants my mom bought for me and a blue polo shirt.

Annabeth was getting ready for the dance at Laura's house, because apparently girls do that sort of thing. That meant I was completely clueless, with only my mom for help. She actually made me brush my hair and I had a flower… _thingy _to give to Annabeth. I'm bad at dances, not dancing (I'm bad at that too), just dances in general. They're too complicated.

I got in the car. Annabeth would be arriving at the dance with the girls, so I would have to meet her there. I had just seen her at school, but I was already anxious to see her again. What if a monster attacked her while she was at Laura's? Those kinds of thoughts always entered my mind when she wasn't with me.

When I got to the dance, it was already crowded. The gym was completely packed and the parking lot was full of couples heading that way. Annabeth was supposed to meet me by the door, but there were so many people crowding the doors I thought I might not find her.

Then I saw her. She was perfect. She was wearing a dark gray strapless dress that brought out her eyes perfectly. Her blonde curls fell carelessly around her shoulders. She was the most beautiful girl in the world. And the tiny ring on her left hand completed the picture.

She saw me and smiled. I smiled too. Maybe this would be our first _normal_ date.

"I got you a… here," I said, handing her the flowers.

"It's called a corsage, Seaweed Brain," she laughed, putting the flowers on her wrist.

"So, do you want to go inside?" I asked.

"No, I came here to stand outside. Come on," she said, grabbing my arm and pulling me through the door.

The dance was packed with people dancing. The music was way too loud. It was exactly not where I wanted to be. But Annabeth was holding my hand, it couldn't be that bad.

The song was something really fast, and everyone was dancing like maniacs. I stood awkwardly by corner with Annabeth. Then my friends came over.

"Come on, you guys actually have to dance," Laura said.

"I'm good," I said.

"Really Seaweed Brain?" Annabeth snapped.

"I know you hate this music too," I said. It was true, Annabeth hated hip-hop and all that other computer generated music. I wasn't the biggest fan either.

"Yeah, but I still might want to dance," she said.

"Fine," I said. We walked into the crowd and started to dance, or at least tried to dance. There were so many people around that we kept getting bumped apart. A few guys tried to start dancing with Annabeth, but she slapped them. I love my girlfriend.

After an entire minute and a half, we gave up. We started heading back for our corner when the song changed. It was "Marry Me" by Train, a band Annabeth actually liked.

"Well that's highly appropriate," she speculated.

"Yeah, I think it was slightly planned," I said, gesturing to my friends who were smiling by the DJ's stand and giving us thumbs up.

"I guess we should dance then," Annabeth said.

"Um, okay." It was a slower song, so we slow danced. I still had no idea what I was doing. Annabeth put her arms around my neck, and I awkwardly put my hands on her waist.

"Loosen up, Seaweed Brain," she scolded. I was standing as stiff as a board, but I was nervous.

"Sorry," I said. I tried to actually look at Annabeth instead of my feet, but then I was afraid I would step on her. I swore dancing would be the death of me.

"How is it we have perfect harmony in the middle of battle, but you can't even dance with me?"

"This is much more intimidating," I said. It was, funny actually. In the middle of battle, I felt closest to Annabeth. I knew her every move, sometimes even before she did. And she knew the same for me. In battle, we were like two halves of one fighting machine. But dancing…? Nope.

She rolled her eyes and laughed. The dance seemed to get easier after that. We definitely weren't _good_, but we didn't trip on anything. It was nice, we looked into each other's eyes and smiled.

"I'm glad we came, this is fun," she said.

"I still hate dancing, but it's fun with you," I said.

"I just make things better, don't I?" she laughed. I pulled her closer and she rested her head on my chest as we turned slowly. It was a perfect moment with the girl I was going to marry. I just hoped that by the time came for the wedding I would be a much better dancer.

When the song ended, I was almost sad that another loud and obnoxious one would come on. It would be nice to slow dance for a little longer.

We returned to our corner, where my friends were waiting with evil grins. I was somewhat annoyed with them, but somewhat thankful to them.

"Did you like our song selection?" Laura asked.

"Um," I said intelligently.

"It was great," Annabeth said.

"It was my idea," Tara said proudly.

Then something happened. Something that I did not expect in any way at all. I had expected maybe a monster attack or two, but not this. This was the one thing I did not see coming. Leo.

"Attention ladies of this school place! I am Leo Valdez: Bad Boy Supreme, Super-Sized McShizzle Man. All the ladies love Leo! I'm here, you're welcome."

"Oh gods," Annabeth said.

"Do you know that kid?" Laura asked.

"Yes," we said together.

"How? I've never seen him here before," she said.

"Camp," I said flatly.

"Wassup people?" Leo yelled as he ran towards us. He looked as insane as ever. His eyes were lit up wildly and his hair was a greasy mess. His grin was so large it stretched from ear to ear.

"Hello Leo," I said. "Why are you here?"

"I heard there was a party, so I had to come," he said.

"Styx! I knew Piper would tell someone about this," Annabeth said.

"Yup, and now I am here to improve your lives," Leo said. Leo was funny, but in an infinitely annoying way.

"Who is this?" Jeremy asked.

"Everyone, this is Leo, party crasher extremist. Leo, this is everyone," I said.

"Why hello there my lady, you look fine tonight," Leo said to Tara. Tara blushed.

"Hi," she said in a little voice.

"Want to go dance?" he asked.

"Sure," she said, and they disappeared into the crowd.

"Well that just happened," Annabeth said.

"Poor Tara," I said.

**And Leo showed up because of reasons. **

**I'm not trying to do that thing where you ship Leo with an OC, I just thought it would be hilarious if he randomly started dancing with one of their friends. **

**Thanks for reading, and if you leave a review I'll spare you when I destroy the world... not that I have a world domination plan... just leave a review to be safe!**

**-Arrietta**


	18. Chapter 18

**"We need a turtle!" Leo says.**

**"...Why?" Frank asks. **

**"Turtle reasons,"**

**"Turtle reasons?"**

**"Just be a turtle." **

***Frank is a turtle***

**"Come on Jason, let's play Turtle Hockey!"**

**I don't think Turtle Hockey is a thing... whatever. **

**I noticed that since I left a threatening message at the end of my last chapter I got a lot more reviews... so the threat remains! Review and you shall live when I destroy the world!**

**Also... someone asked for this in a review. If you ask a question in a review I will answer it in the next chapter (if it is reasonable). You can ask about ANYTHING! The story, tacos, the nargle conspiracy... but if I think a question is inappropriate I will not be answering it.**

**So yeah, enjoy this chapter and leave a review. I really love hearing from you guys. I still get an idiotic smile every time I read a review. **

The dance was… _interesting._ It wasn't a fairy tale evening, but I had never been much of a fairy tale kind of girl. We didn't see Leo and Tara for the rest of the night, which made me slightly concerned. Percy and I hardly danced, just the occasional slow song. We spent most of the time on the outskirts just talking.

The dance finally came to an end, and we found Leo again.

"Hey, I just remembered, there actually was a reason I came," he said.

"What is it?" I asked.

"I have a message, you two are wanted on Olympus," he said.

"How do you just forget to tell us that we're wanted on Olympus?!" I asked frantically.

"I dunno, ADHD and stuff, I got distracted…" he said.

"Leo!" I scolded.

"Sorry, but you should probably get going, I remember it being something important," he said.

"Then why would they send you?"

"Hey, I am highly responsible. And I was bored…"

"Uh, come on Percy, we should go," I said.

"Great, we are never going to have a normal date," he grumbled.

"Of course not, that would be boring," I smiled.

We drove over the speed limit the entire way to the Empire State building. Being late for a meeting with the gods is not something you want. We ran through the door to the man behind the desk.

"600th floor please," Percy said.

"No such thing," he said.

"I don't have time for this right now," Percy said.

"Fine," he handed over the key.

We got on for the very long elevator ride. I was a nervous wreck. Percy put his arm around me.

"Whatever this is, we can handle it. You and me, we can handle anything," he said.

"Thank you," I said. "I just hope it's not the end of the world _again_." Percy laughed.

"Saving the world three times, wouldn't that be something," he said. It would be something, something terrible. I had barely made it through the last war alive, a third time might push the limit.

We reached Olympus. It was magnificent, and hard to believe that I was the one who built it.

"You did a good job up here," he said. I took his hand in mine. It probably wasn't good timing, but I kissed him. If the world was going to end again, I wanted one last kiss.

"Here goes nothing," I said as we stood at the doors to the palace of the gods.

"Here goes nothing," he agreed. He opened the door and we found five gods, all staring at us. It wasn't the entire council, but it was still intimidating. In the room were Zeus, Poseidon, Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite.

"Look who decided to show up," Zeus said in a very annoyed voice. He was, like the others, in their giant forms. I felt like a pathetic ant.

"Brother, I'm sure they have an explanation for their lateness," Poseidon said. "Percy?"

"Um, camp decided to send Leo to tell us…" he said. That was enough explanation for the gods. I gripped Percy's hand tighter, my nerves getting the better of me.

"So, I'm sure you're wondering why we gathered you here," Zeus continued. "Well I actually don't know why I had to be here, I have nothing to do with the situation…"

"What he means is we gathered to discuss the matter of your…" Poseidon started, but trailed off as if the next words were acid in his throat.

"Your engagement!" Aphrodite squealed.

"Um, yes, we must discuss your engagement," Zeus said.

"I personally think it should be terminated immediately," my mother said.

"Come on Athena, it's romantic," Aphrodite pleaded. At least one of the gods supported us…

"For once, I'm on the same page as Athena, this is a terrible idea," Poseidon said. This was great, both of our parents wanted to break us up. The little ring suddenly felt like a lead weight. Percy squeezed my hand and I instantly knew he was going to do something stupid.

"We're not breaking off the engagement! I don't care about your rivalry, I love Annabeth and I want to be with her forever!" he said. Aphrodite was having a sudden freak attack. She was yelling and screaming about true love and how romantic it was. I really wished she would shut up, she was almost more annoying than the gods who were against us.

"Percy, watch your tone," Poseidon said, his eyes pleading his son not to get himself blown up.

"Annabeth, do you honestly want to spend your life with the sea spawn?" Athena asked me.

"Yes…" I said cautiously. Athena shot daggers with her eyes at Percy. Percy cringed.

"You see, it's true love!" Aphrodite shouted. _Please shut up,_ I thought.

"I hate admit it, but I can sense a long happy marriage between these two. If they don't die…" Hera said. Why was it that the people I hated were being nice?

"I don't really care. I don't have any idea why any of you care," Zeus said. So for once he was the only one I wasn't angry at.

"I don't think that my daughter should be anywhere near your son!" Athena screamed at Poseidon.

"Oh, you think I'm happy about it? At least I didn't try to get your daughter killed every time I saw her!" Poseidon yelled back.

"I can count how many times I've tried to kill Percy on one hand!"

"That's still a lot of times!"

"Mom! Stop fighting!" I screamed. I couldn't believe it. They were acting like children. They were trying to break us up for their own selfish reasons. "Percy and I are going to be together, none of you can stop that."

"Annabeth!" my mother scolded.

"Sorry, but it's the truth. I love Percy, why can't you see that?" I said. Athena grumbled and sat back in her seat.

"Does this mean they can be together forever and ever and ever?" Aphrodite asked hopefully.

"I may not approve of this, but I want my son to be happy. I believe Athena would say the same thing. I will allow it for the time-being," Poseidon said. I thought Percy was going to try to run and hug him, but he didn't. It was a good thing too, since Poseidon was twenty feet tall it would have been an awkward hug.

"Fine, I shall agree for the time-being as well. But remember Annabeth, you could do better," Athena said.

"Thanks Mom…" I said. I knew that I would never find a better guy than Percy, but my mom would never see that.

"Great, you can leave, and I can go back to my business," Zeus said. I think he saw the entire meeting as a waste of his time.

"If your 'business' is what I think it is, you are not going back to it," Hera accused.

"That's not what I meant…"

"That's always what you mean!"

Percy and I awkwardly backed out of the throne room and ran the entire way to the elevator.

"Well that was fun!" Percy said.

"Are you kidding? I thought my mom was going to pulverize you for talking like that!" I said.

"Okay… a thank you would be nice," he said.

I sighed, "Thank you for defending us."

"You're welcome," he said. Then he gave me a gentle kiss. Even the gods couldn't tear us apart, I didn't think anything could.

**That's right! Godly reactions!**

**I'm going to sleep now because if you remember I haven't really slept in a few days and I fell asleep in the car today even after a few cups of coffee (don't worry I wasn't driving).**

**Thanks for reading!**

**-Arrietta**


	19. Chapter 19

**"We wish you a Merry Christmas!"**

**"We don't even celebrate Christmas..."**

**"We wish you a Happy Hanuka!"**

**"No..."**

**"We wish you a Joyful Quanza!"**

**"Stop it Seaweed Brain..."**

**Hell internet! Happy (insert holiday of your choice)!**

**So I said I would answer questions... but not many of you sent them (feel the evil glare I am giving you). But I'll still answer!**

**Q. How long is this story going to go?**

**A. I actually have about ten chapters more written than are posted, so don't worry you won't run out anytime soon. I really love writing this story so I'll probably keep doing it as long as it is still fun. I don't know how long it will be, it could just go through the year or it could follow their entire life. **

**Enjoy the chapter!**

I woke up Saturday morning feeling really tired. Then I remembered that last night we had gone to a dance, failed at dancing, been interrupted by Leo, rushed to Olympus, and threatened by gods. I think that was a legitimate reason to be tired.

It was funny, the dance ended at midnight and my mom freaked out when we didn't get back until three in the morning. We just had to explain how we were being threatened, not doing anything bad. She looked relieved. That's my mom; rather have me getting threatened by gods than going to a party with alcohol or something.

I didn't wake up until noon, and I was clearly the last one awake. My mom was in the kitchen making blue pancakes and Annabeth was sitting at the table already doing homework.

"Look who decided to join the living," Annabeth teased. She was wearing flannel pajama pants and an oversized t-shirt. Her hair was a tangled mess pulled into something resembling a bun. Beautiful was the only word I could think of.

"Saturdays are reserved for sleeping," I said, joining her at the table. I wanted to kiss her, but my mom was standing right there, so I settled for a kiss on the cheek.

"Of course they are, Seaweed Brain," she smiled. I had a sudden idea.

"We are going to do something today!" I declared.

"Okay…"

"We are going to have our first successful date, no godly interruptions," I said. I felt like today might be our lucky day, the day we could have a real date.

"I think you just jinxed it," she said. She was probably right, but I still wanted an excuse to take her out somewhere and just spend the day together.

"Come on, it'll be fun," I pleaded.

"Where are we going to go?" she asked. That was a good question, I had no idea.

"I don't know, let's just go somewhere!" I said. I'm bad at planning.

"Okay…" she said. I had a feeling this would just be a good day. I could spend the entire day with my girlfriend, no my _fiancée_, and we could do whatever we wanted. I was determined to make sure nothing would go wrong.

We left at about two in the afternoon. Annabeth was wearing jeans and her classic camp T-shirt. I was wearing the same thing. It was nothing fancy, but it was us.

"Where to first, Mrs. Jackson?" I joked as I held the car door open for her.

"Can we go eat lunch, Mr. Jackson?" she countered.

"Where at?"

"I don't know, you know the city better than I do," she said.

"I know a place, it's perfect," I said. I drove us to a tiny café about a block from the apartment. It had a great view of the East River. We took our seats at one of the tables outside.

"This reminds me of something," she said.

"Does it?" I asked, knowing exactly what she was thinking of.

"The café, in Rome, where we ate before my quest," she said.

"You have an excellent memory," I said. She gave me a look that said, _Are you really just figuring that out?_

"So why are you trying to remind me of the place where I had to leave you on a journey to my death?" she asked skeptically.

"Because watching you leave was the most painful thing I ever did, so I want to actually leave the café with you this time," I said.

"Aw, look at you trying to be a good boyfriend," she laughed.

"I thought I was a good boyfriend!"

She took my hand, "You are, I just don't like to admit it."

We had a happy lunch. We chatted aimlessly about everything and nothing. It was a normal date so far, everything was going smoothly.

"Can we go get ice cream?" Annabeth asked after lunch.

"Sure," I said. Since the ice cream shop was close by, we decided to walk. Annabeth took my hand and my heart sped up. She could still do that to me.

"I'll race you," she said.

"You're on," I said, and we raced down a crowded New York sidewalk. It was fun, dodging people and trying to keep up with each other. Annabeth won though, and she wasn't afraid to gloat.

"I won, Seaweed Brain, that means you have to pay for ice cream," she taunted.

"I would have had to pay anyway," I said.

"Probably," she said. We got our ice cream. We both got chocolate-vanilla swirls. We sat down on a bench to eat. Annabeth got some ice cream on her nose and it made me laugh.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing, it's just," I kissed her nose, "There, all better."

"Thanks," she said; then she did something uncalled for. She shoved her ice cream in my face.

"What was that for?" I asked, trying to lick the ice cream up around my lips.

"It was fun," she said plainly, returning to her remaining ice cream that wasn't on my face. I took my cone and smeared some across her cheek.

"Seaweed Brain!" she screamed.

"What? It was fun," I mocked.

"Oh, it is on!" she said, holding her ice cream like it was a deadly weapon, which with Annabeth, it probably was.

"Bring it, Wise Girl," I said, wielding my delicious frozen weapon as well. It turned into a full out ice cream war, at the end of which we were both completely covered in sticky melted ice cream. It probably looked pretty weird to any bystanders, two teenagers using elaborate fighting moves to hit each other with ice cream, but I didn't care. It was fun.

When our weapons had melted, we sat back down on the bench. I gave Annabeth's ice cream covered lips a kiss. It tasted like chocolate.

"So, do you want to try and finish our date?" I asked.

"Not when we're covered in chocolate," she said.

"Yeah, maybe we should go home and get cleaned up," I agreed.

**I felt like the dance wasn't fluffy enough so I'm making up for it. **

**And for those of you who are concerned about my sleeping habits (which is a creepily high number), I got twelve hours of sleep last night!**

**Thanks for reading!**

**-Arrietta**


	20. Chapter 20

***Percy is reading fanfics about karaoke nights***

**"Hey Annabeth, we should do karaoke!"**

**"No"**

***sings* "Don't go breaking my heart"**

**"Stop"**

**"I couldn't if I tried"**

**"Seaweed Brain!"**

**"Oh honey if-"**

***Nico walks in***

**"Percy! You are actually hurting my ears! Listening to the dead moan and complain is more enjoyable than this!"**

**"That was harsh..."**

**Well that was fun. Okay, I don't know about you guys, but ever since MoA every time a romantic song comes on I think it's about Percy and Annabeth. Especially "Iris" by the Goo Goo Dolls. I actually start tearing up when it comes on because of feels. And the song "Strawberry Swing" by Coldplay I'm pretty sure is a Percabeth one-shot. Go listen to it and read the lyrics, it is about them spending an afternoon in the strawberry fields at camp I swear! People fighting, cold water, blue, gray, life being pointless without each other. I sort of started sobbing the first time it came on my Pandora. **

**Sorry for that, but anyway, Happy Christmas (try to say that without a British accent).**

**I don't know about you guys, but my present was pretty nerdy, I got a Hogwarts hoodie and it is my favorite thing in the world now. I think I'm going to ask for a CHB t-shirt for my next birthday... maybe a Yankees cap and some silver owl earrings too.**

**Did you get any fandom gear? Well here is my present to you on this day, so have fun spending Christmas on the internet, I know I will. **

**Enjoy!**

A shower and a change of clothes later, Percy and I were ready to resume our date.

"Where to now?" I asked him.

"I have an idea, but it's a surprise," Percy said, smiling his trouble-maker smile.

"I hate surprises."

"Exactly!"

So I was blindfolded in the front seat of the car. Percy was driving me to gods know where.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked for the thousandth time.

"I'm not telling," he said again. "Wait, we're here!"

"Finally," I groaned. He parked the car and opened my door. He helped me stand up and started to untie the blindfold.

"Tada!" he said. I was looking at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, home to thousands of pieces of Greek artwork. I had wanted to visit it for my entire life, but my schedule didn't exactly leave much time for museum visits.

"Percy!" was all I was able to say. I threw my arms around him and kissed him. I had told him once that I always wanted to come here, but I assumed he wasn't listening since I was talking about a museum. He really was smarter than I gave him credit for.

We spent the entire day in the museum. It was amazing, seeing all of the ancient artwork, much of it being of our parents. At one point we were discussing how incorrect a statue of Dionysus was, when a bystander who was apparently eavesdropping gave us a strange look. I guess that the comment "He's fat and wears Hawaiian shirts," isn't something you often hear when admiring statues. Oh well.

It was pretty much a perfect day. Percy tried to listen as I constantly rambled facts. I laughed when he tried to beat a statue in a staring contest (he lost, in case you were curious).

Eventually, the museum had to close and we had to leave.

"Do you want to go back to the apartment?" I asked.

"Alright, but the date still isn't over," he said.

"What are we going to do at your apartment? Watch _Avatar_ again?"

"No, but don't hate on _Avatar_, you're just jealous that you're a non-bender," he said.

"I think I could be an airbender…"

"No you couldn't, you get to be the cabbage guy," he said. I had a strange feeling he had actually put thought into this.

"Could I be that giant owl?"

"Fine, you get to be the giant owl," he said. That was the end of that conversation.

We got back to the apartment. When we got in the elevator, I reached for Percy's floor button, but he stopped me.

"We aren't going to the apartment, now close your eyes, it's a surprise again," he said.

"Enough with the surprises," I said.

"Close your eyes," he said. I reluctantly closed my eyes. He clicked a button and the elevator began to move. I tried to count how many floors we passed, but I got bored and gave up after three.

"Alright, open your eyes," he said. I opened my eyes.

"This is the roof…" I said, confused about the situation.

"Yup," was all he said.

"Why are we on the roof?"

"Because the roof is the only place where you can see the stars. Aren't you supposed to be the smart one?" he said. I looked at the sky.

"Percy, we are in the middle of New York on a cloudy night, there are no stars," I said.

"Oh…"

"You're such a Seaweed Brain," I laughed. It was a good effort on his part, but it just wouldn't work out.

"We could still hang out up here," he suggested.

"But I'm cold," I complained. It was pretty cold up here on the roof. Even though it was only early September, it was dark and there was a strong breeze coming from the river. Percy used this opportunity to do a cliché guy move. He put his arm around me and held me close. It worked, I was instantly warmer.

"Better?" he asked.

"Yes," I said. He sat down on a random bench. I had no idea why there was a bench on a rooftop, but I didn't argue. I sat next to him.

"So, how was our first normal date?" he asked.

"Exceedingly ordinary, but I liked it."

"Good, maybe we can have a few more normal dates," he said.

"Maybe, I don't care. We can be getting ice cream or killing monsters, as long as I'm doing it with you."

"You and me, we're in this together, forever," he said, touching the ring on my finger.

"Forever," I repeated.

**Oh and the fluffiness continues. **

**I forgot to do this at the top so I'm doing it here. Question answering time!**

**Q. Will they go back to camp? Will there be more old characters?**

**A. Yes, they will go back to camp a few times and I love integrating all of the old characters. Rick's characters are all so great, I love throwing them in with the story. **

**Thanks for reading and leave a review and stuff! I'm only four follows away from 100 followers and if I got that by the end of the day it would be the best present ever!**

**-Arrietta**


	21. Chapter 21

**"Look! A Blibbering Humpdinger!"**

**"Wrong book, Seaweed Brain. That's a dracanae."**

**"So... should I kill it?"**

**"Probably."**

**"It feels so wrong to kill a Blibbering Humpdinger."**

**"It's not a... never mind."**

**Hello there. I slept past noon today, which makes it a good day. It's also snowing, making it a good day. But I poured cereal and we were out of milk so I'm just going to hate the universe all day.**

**Enjoy this chapter. It's a bit short. **

It was a normal morning in early October. Annabeth and I were sitting in Ancient Greek and enjoying the fact that we had just beat our personal record for days without monster attacks (a whole week and a half!).

Annabeth was scrunching her eyebrows really cutely. The teacher was giving a description of Athena, and Annabeth looked like she was just waiting to launch her hand into the air when she got one little fact wrong. I laughed to myself, she was cute when she was smart.

"σοφό κορίτσι," I said in Greek, so that no one could overhear us. _Wise Girl._

"τι θέλεις, ο εγκέφαλος φύκια?" she snapped. _What do you want, Seaweed Brain?_

"Σ 'αγαπώ," I said. _I love you._

"Σ 'αγαπώ πάρα πολύ, αλλά είμαστε στην τάξη," she said, very annoyed. _I love you too, but we're in class. _

"έτσι δεν μπορώ να πω σ 'αγαπώ κάθε φορά νιώθω σαν να?" _So I can't say 'I love you' whenever I feel like it?_

_"_όταν δεν είμαι προσπαθούν να μάθουν."_ Not when I'm trying to learn._

"Ίσως θα ήθελα απλώς να σας πω, σε περίπτωση που δεν πάρει άλλη μια ευκαιρία." _Maybe I just want to tell you, in case I don't get another chance._

"γιατί θα σας πω ακόμα ότι?" she said, a sad smile forming on her lips. _Why would you even say that?_

"Μήπως ξεχάσατε ποιος είμαι?" I said, the happiness in my voice now gone. _Did you forget who I am?_

"Πέρσι, δεν θέλω να μιλήσω γι 'αυτό τώρα," she said, her eyes starting to water. _Percy, I don't want to talk about this right now._ I hated seeing her cry. She was so strong, she hardly ever did. When she did, I was usually the cause. That was pretty much the worst feeling in the world.

"Σας παρακαλώ, μην κλαις," I said quietly. _Please don't cry._

"Αλλά έχεις δίκιο. Είναι ο μεγαλύτερος φόβος μου, κάθε μέρα ανησυχώ ότι θα μπορούσα να έχω δει απλά για τελευταία φορά," she whispered, a single tear streaming down her face. _But you're right. It's my biggest fear, every day I worry that I might have just seen you for the last time._

"Annabeth…" I said. It was killing me. I didn't want to make her worry like that. But the truth was I felt the same exact way. Every time she walked away from me I took in the moment, a little bit of my mind reminding me it could be the last time I saw her. Every morning when I woke up the first thing I did was make sure Annabeth was okay. She was usually already awake, eating breakfast or something, but in those few moments it took me to find her it was like my heart had stopped. There was the fear that she could have disappeared in the night just like I had.

I knew she worried about me just as much as I did about her, if not more. Late at night, when she thought I was asleep, I could hear her, waking up from a nightmare. I was often awake because of the same reason. I would hear her walk out of her room and stand in my doorway, just to make sure I was okay, to make sure I was still there. Once she was sure I was alright, she would make her silent way back to her own room. I always wished that I could follow her, to protect her from the nightmares, but I couldn't. My mom would have a cow.

Annabeth wiped her eyes. I put her hand into mine. "Together," I said. And that was enough to reassure her.

But when we parted ways for our next class, I still found myself looking at her with worry. It could be the last time I ever saw her, just like every moment was. What would she do if I died? What would I do if she died? These weren't questions most seventeen-year-olds had to ask themselves on a daily basis, but we weren't most seventeen-year-olds. It was a painful truth that I probably wouldn't live to be older than twenty, and if I did every day would be lived in fear. But for now I had Annabeth. We could pretend we had a chance in this messed up world, and that was all that mattered.

**Oh the emotions! Or maybe you were less emotional than Kristen Stewart that entire time. I don't know. **

**Hey this is kind of random, but if you've been reading this story you've probably noticed that my picture thingy is a drawing of Piper. What you probably didn't know is that I drew that thingy. Let me know what you think of it, but don't be too mean, I drew it on the computer. **

**Thanks for reading! Leave a review and I will love you forever!**

**-Arrietta**


	22. Chapter 22

***Annabeth approaches Hazel who is holding something***

**"What's tha- OH MY GODS IT'S A SPIDER!"**

**"It's not a spider! It's Frank, being a spider!"**

**"Kill it! Kill it! Kill it!" *Annabeth tries to kill Frank***

**"Don't kill him!" *Frank returns to human***

**"Stop whacking me!" *Annabeth continues whacking Frank***

**"DIE!"**

**"You have problems..."**

**GUYS! GUYS! I'M REALLY HAPPY! LIKE I'M CAPS LOCKS HAPPY THAT'S HOW HAPPY I AM! **

**Okay, returning to normal text because caps locks hurts my eyes... I got 100 followers! I would like to throw a giant party to celebrate... but instead I'm just going to eat spaghetti and congratulate myself. **

**I want to thank each and every one of my followers for being awesome and clicking that button thing. I would also like to thank you for putting up with the constant emails you probably get because of me. **

**I would like to give extra thanks to everyone who reviewed. You guys are my favorite people in the universe. I would give you all unicorns, but unicorn law prohibits sending unicorns over the internet. **

**Oh, question answering time!**

**Q. What is a Blibbering Humpdinger?**

**A. Go join society and read****_ Harry Potter. _**

**Now enjoy this chapter that I have posted because I am super happy. **

"Hello," I answered the phone one lazy afternoon. Percy and I had been alternating studying and kissing for the past few hours while his parents were running errands. He was currently sitting on the couch and attempting to read a book. He wasn't having much success.

"Annabeth! I called camp and they said you were here. Are you spending the week with Percy or something?" the voice on the other end said. It was my father.

Quick story: I didn't exactly tell my dad that I wasn't staying at camp; that I was instead staying with Percy. I certainly didn't tell him that we were engaged. In my defense, I hadn't actually seen him since last spring, and the last time I talked to him was a five minute phone conversation when the war was over to let him know I was alive. We had become closer over the past few years, but we still didn't exactly have your ideal father-daughter relationship.

"Who is it?" Percy asked, giving up on his book.

_My dad_, I mouthed. Percy ducked behind the couch, as if my dad could somehow see him through the phone.

"Yeah Dad, I'm fine, I've just been staying at Percy's the past few days," I said. Days, months… same thing.

"Oh, that's nice…" he said skeptically. He had met Percy a total of two times, during which one of them I was being held hostage by a Titan. The second time had gone much more smoothly, but they still hardly knew each other. I wasn't sure my dad was aware of how serious our relationship had become, as in _engagement_ serious.

"Anyway," he continued, "I'm coming to New York on a business trip next week. I was hoping that we could have dinner or something. I haven't seen you in a while."

"Sure, you, me, Percy, Sally, and Paul can all go out to dinner," I said.

"Actually I was thinking just you and-" he started, but I cut him off.

"Love you, got to go, bye." I hung up the phone.

"You didn't tell him yet, did you?" Percy asked accusingly.

"If by 'tell him' you mean the engagement, then no, I didn't tell him yet," I said.

"Annabeth, you're supposed to be the smart one," Percy groaned.

"I didn't know what I was supposed to say! I was waiting for a good time, and I guess this is going to be it," I said. Percy looked like I had just sentenced him to the fields of punishment, which depending on my dad's reaction, I just might have.

"So we have to go to dinner with your dad… and explain everything?" he said.

"Yes, and your parents can come too, that should keep anything from getting out of control," I said, trying to convince myself just as much as Percy. I had no idea what my dad would do, he might be completely fine with it like Sally, or he could freak out and try to strangle Percy.

"Well this should be fun," he said sarcastically. I sat back down on the couch, drained of any desire to study. I just wanted to cuddle up to Percy and pretend like everything was going to be alright. So that's what I did.

I put my head on his chest where I could hear his heartbeat, which seemed more real than even my own. It seemed to say _He's alive_, something I still often had trouble believing. He put his arm around me and pulled me close. He kissed the top of my hair gently. I hugged him tighter, afraid that he might disappear if I let him go.

"Everything will be fine, we can get through anything," he said, as if he had been reading my mind.

"I hope your right," I said. I was hardly even talking about the situation with my dad anymore, I was talking about life. I wanted life to work out. I wanted a happy ending, not constant worrying about where the next monster would pop out of. Just today we had been chased home by three hellhounds. And yet that was somehow normal.

"We're going to graduate high school, and you're going to go to college. After that we can get married, have big wedding with all of our friends. You'll become an architect, and you can design a house for us. And we can have a few little kids, and they can grow up. And we can grow old together," Percy said, running his fingers through my hair.

I didn't know what to feel. I was happy, because for some reason Percy thought that all of these things could actually happen. I wanted them to happen too, and something about being with Percy made me feel like it was possible. I was happy, because even though I had been wearing the ring for almost two months now, the possibility of a future felt real for the first time.

I had assumed that Percy proposed because he was afraid we wouldn't live long enough to actually get married, that this was as close as we could get. Now I wasn't so sure. Now I thought we might actually have a future, have a life together.

"You and me? Having kids? That would be an adventure," I said, because really the idea both intrigued and terrified me. I knew Percy would want kids someday, he got along so well with the younger campers. But me? I had no idea. I had never thought much about it. I didn't know how to be a mom.

"Yeah, little mini versions of us," he kissed my head.

"I think a bunch of mini versions of us all living in one house would be a bigger threat to the worlds than Kronos…" I said. Percy and I tried to kill each other a lot. I had a feeling our kids might inherit that.

"Probably, but it would be fun. Wouldn't it? Especially if they're anything like you. Then they'd be perfect," he said.

"As long as they don't have water powers, I could probably handle it," I said. A bunch of toddlers with the ability to flood a house with their minds: pure terror.

"How awesome would that be if they all had water powers?" he said, as if the concept of genetics had entered his mind for the first time. I thought it would be a nightmare. Percy's powers were hard enough to control. He always had to control his emotions, especially anger, or else things went very, very wrong. I didn't want to think about having to deal with little kids with that sort of power.

"I guess we can find that out _if_ and when we actually do have kids," I said,

"If?" he said, as if I had just crushed his dreams.

"I don't even know if I want kids. I'm not exactly the maternal type. I wasn't even raised by my parents, not really. I don't know how to be a parent," I said.

"Well, it's something we will just have to figure out together. But I personally think you would be a great mother," he said. I hated it when he was sweet. It was harder to say no.

"Well it doesn't matter now anyways, because we won't be having any kids for a very, very long time," I said sternly.

"I wasn't implying anything!" he defended. He was cute when he thought he was in trouble.

"I know, just thought I'd make it clear," I said.

"Besides, there's no rush. We have all the time in the world," he said. And for the moment, I actually believed him.

**Ooooh talking about kids, are we?** **Look at me, once again questioning the actions of my own characters (even though I don't really own them). I'm not crazy.**

**Go forth and enjoy life now.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**-Arrietta**


	23. Chapter 23

**"Percy, do you want something to drink?"**

**"Cactus juice please,"**

**"Cactus juice?"**

**"Actually, could you make it a blue cactus juice?"**

**"Cactus juice?"**

**"It's the quenchiest!"**

**I'm really sorry, if you don't watch****_ Avatar_**** most of my little stories probably don't make sense. **

**So yeah... just me casually updating my story at two in the morning... I don't need sleep. **

**I'm just going to say it, I don't really like this chapter this much. If you're going to say it's because I wrote it at two in the morning I'll remind you that I write these about a week before I post them. Also I do almost all of my writing at two in the morning while listening to Coldplay on my iPod... so that might explain a lot...**

**So the reason I don't like this very much is because I have absolutely no idea how Annabeth's dad would react and I feel like I got it completely wrong. I actually wrote this out several times with different reactions, and I didn't like any of them. So here is the one that I disliked the least. **

**Enjoy!**

Dinner with Annabeth's dad… Yay.

I didn't really know how to feel about Mr. Chase. Annabeth originally implanted in my mind that he was a jerk who kicked her out when she was seven. That story wasn't exactly true, but it was still my first impression of him. Then there was the time when I first met him, he killed a whole bunch of monsters with his plane to save Annabeth and I gained a lot of respect for him.

Then there was the second time I met him, after the Titan War. It was extremely awkward, since Annabeth and I had just started dating and we had to go out to a fancy dinner and all of that stuff. Nothing exploded and nothing attacked. That's about the best I could say for that meeting.

So this was going to be the first real meeting, where we might actually have a conversation. And I was scared. Her mom already hated me, I at least wanted her dad to tolerate me. But the fact that his daughter didn't tell him she was engaged to a guy he hardly knows (and who has almost gotten her killed on several occasions) probably wasn't going to make for the smoothest meeting.

But my mom would be there, and she could explain how she was fine with it. My mom was good with people, she would be able to handle this if things got out of hand. I also didn't want to have to rely on my mom to do all the work. It was an adult decision that I made, and I had to handle it like an adult. I couldn't just be a little kid and let my mom take care of everything for me.

"Are you ready?" Annabeth asked. We were going to a diner down a few streets to meet her dad. I could tell she was nervous too, but she hid it well. She hid a lot of things, but I could read a lot about her that other people couldn't. Like the fact that she was wearing gloves to hide her ring. It was cold enough for a jacket, but not so cold that gloves were necessary. She didn't want the ring to be spotted before she got the chance to explain.

"I guess," I sighed. We made our way to the car where Mom and Paul were already waiting. We sat in the back seat and drove to the diner.

"This will be nice, finally meeting Annabeth's dad," my mom said. She talked when she was nervous. She had even had a moment when she found out about the engagement, and she knew Annabeth really well. This dinner was looking more and more scary.

"Yep," I said after a moment's awkward silence.

"Is he happy about the engagement?" she asked. Another silence.

Annabeth finally spoke up, "We were going to tell him today."

"Oh," my mom said, looking even more nervous than before, "Won't that be nice." The rest of the car ride was silent.

After what felt like hours to my ADHD brain, but was probably only a few minutes, we arrived at the diner. Mr. Chase was already sitting at a table, waiting for us. He stood and gave Annabeth a hug and shook my hand.

"Nice to see you again, Percy," he said very formally. I felt like this was a job interview or something.

"Nice to see you too," I said.

He then introduced himself to my parents and they did the same. So far things were going okay. Annabeth was squeezing my hand really, really tight. She did that when she was nervous.

"So, we never really had a chance to talk about your trip and the war. How did it go?" Mr. Chase asked once we sat down. There was silence. Mr. Chase was really interested in wars, I remembered that about him. We, on the other hand, lived them. They weren't just something to talk about, they were our life. The last war had been especially bad. We could hardly even talk about it without the memories getting the best of us and breaking down. It was obvious that Annabeth's dad had no idea how terrifying her life was. He didn't understand all of the things we had been through, and how painful they had been. Then again, I couldn't blame him. No one understood how messed up our lives were, no one but us.

"Dad, I really don't want to talk about that. We're fine, we made it," Annabeth said to finally break the silence. I could tell that even saying that much was hurting her. It was also hurting her to keep things from her dad, but the pain of the war was worse.

"I'm sorry," he said. "So how are things at camp?"

"Great, we rebuilt almost all of the cabins. Once the arena is repaired it will be as good as new," Annabeth said happily. Fixing buildings was something she would be much more comfortable talking about.

"Oh, that's nice. Are you going to stay at camp when the repairs are done? Or do you want me to re-enroll you in your boarding school from last year?" he asked. This was it. We would have to tell him everything. We couldn't keep secrets from him forever.

"There's something I have to tell you," Annabeth started, "I haven't really been staying at camp… I've been staying with Percy's family and going to Goode." She squeezed my hand so tight I thought it might break. That was one of the problems with having a really strong girlfriend; she could really hurt you if she wanted to.

"Oh," her dad said after a moment of silence. "That's really nice, I guess." He wasn't angry, which was good, especially since this wasn't even the big news yet. But he did look awkward, maybe even sad.

"And she's been getting straight A's," my mother said, trying to be helpful. It was a good effort.

"There's something else we need to tell you…" Annabeth said. She looked miserable and I hated that. I was the one who proposed, so I might as well be the one who told her dad.

"Annabeth and I are engaged," I said. Annabeth scowled at me to say _I was going to tell him you idiot!_ I replied with a _Sorry, just me being an idiot _look.

"What?!" he said. He looked more shocked than anything. Not really mad, just surprised.

"Percy and I are engaged," Annabeth said.

"I heard you, I just don't think I understood you. You're only seventeen! You can't be engaged!" he said.

"Well we are," Annabeth said, holding up her hand to show the ring.

"Annabeth, I don't think you understand what you're getting yourself into," Mr. Chase said.

"Dad, I think I'm old enough to make my own decisions," Annabeth said forcefully. I knew right then that she was getting what she wanted. No one in their right mind would stand between Annabeth and what she wanted when she gave them the look she was giving right now.

"Sally, how do you feel about this?" Mr. Chase asked.

"I support it. I trust both of them and their choices," my mom said. Have I ever said that I have the best mom ever?

Mr. Chase thought for a moment. "And what about you, Percy, why do you think you and Annabeth should be engaged?" he asked.

I didn't know what to say other than the truth. "I love Annabeth, I want to be with her forever. I don't want to ever have to leave her again. I want to be there for her, I want her to be there for me too. I love her," I said. It wasn't forced. It wasn't rehearsed. It was truth, it was exactly what I was thinking.

"And you feel the same way?" he asked Annabeth.

"Yes, I love Percy. I want to be with him forever," she said.

"Alright. If you both think that this is the right thing to do, you have my support," he said. That was like the weight of the world off of my shoulders (and I know what that feels like).

**I just felt like the whole thing was awkward and weird. I usually don't like bashing my own work, but I just didn't like this chapter. If you didn't like this chapter either, just ignore it and wait for the next one. **

**Peace out. If it's two in the morning while you're reading this, don't follow my example. Close the laptop and actually get some sleep. **

**Thanks for reading!**

**-Arrietta**


	24. Chapter 24

***Katie Gardner is gardening***

***Travis explodes the garden***

**"STOLL!"**

***Neville Longbottom enters***

**"No! You destroyed the mandrakes!"**

**I think I just made a crossover... Let's just pretend that never happened. **

**Okay so I was camp half-blood wiki yesterday doing character research and I was on Annabeth's page in the trivia section...**

**I found this little blurb that said the Percy and Annabeth's relationship is based off of the creation of the chariot. Athena made the chariot which is like the plan Annabeth always comes up with, and Poseidon made the horse which mirrors the strength PErcy always provides to carry out the plan. **

**I'm sorry, but I just found out that the relationship that thousands of people freak out over is based off of a chariot.**

**A chariot. **

**I kind of feel like my entire life is a lie. **

**I just don't even know what to do right now. **

**Percabeth is based off of a chariot. **

**If you don't believe me go to the page, it is there. **

**My mind just isn't functioning right.**

**Okay, thanks for listening to my mini freak out session. Here's the chapter thingy that you actually came to read. **

Greek class… again.

Percy was asleep… again.

Monster attack… again.

It was funny, the teacher was describing the hydra when I saw it through the window.

"Percy! Wake up!" I said in a frantic whisper.

"What? Is it a math test?!"

"Seaweed Brain, look out the window," I said. He looked.

"Styx, I really wanted to sleep this morning," he said.

"You slept for almost ten hours last night."

"What's your point?"

"Let's just go," I said. We crept out of the room. The teacher was so old she didn't see us and the class was either not paying attention or didn't care. The only one who did notice was Laura. She gave me a look that said _What are you doing?_ I responded with a look that said _Tell you later._

We ran onto the grounds where the hydra was casually attacking a lunch table. I had no idea why it felt the need to attack to attack a lunch table, but monsters rarely needed reasons to attack things. Maybe it was mad because it smelled like the competitor of whatever fast food chain it represented. One of the many reasons I don't like to eat McDonald's. Another reason being that Nico uses it to raise the dead, which makes eating Chicken McNuggets a little creepy.

"What's the plan?" Percy asked.

"Kill it."

"Good plan," Percy said. I looked at the beast. It had five heads, each one was spitting acid. If you have trouble waking up in the morning, I really suggest dodging acid from five snake-like monster heads. It really gets the blood flowing.

"We're going to need fire," I said.

"Well Leo's back at camp and I don't know anyone else who can summon fire at will. Except Prince Zuko but…" Percy said. He really needed to stop with all of the _Avatar_ stuff.

"I have an idea, just keep it distracted," I said.

"Will do," Percy said. I ran off and left Percy alone with the monster. He would be fine, I hoped. I had to find some fire, which wasn't exactly easy when I was stuck on school grounds.

I saw it, a fuse-box, exactly what I was looking for. I grabbed some dried fallen branches from the ground and said a prayer to Zeus that I wouldn't get electrocuted. I whacked the fuse-box with the branches and it did exactly what I wanted. It sparked and one of the branches caught fire. I left the box, which was still sparking and smoking. If I could kill this monster, I would come back and fix it, but if I couldn't kill the hydra the fuse-box wouldn't be much of a problem.

"I have the fire!" I shouted as I ran back to Percy. He was dodging the hydra, but he wasn't trying to attack. He was mostly trying to keep it from destroying the school. Something in the back of my head said that Percy looked really, really good when he was in battle. The rest of my head told it to shut up and focus on the situation.

Percy got the message and sliced off the first head. I followed quickly behind him and burned the neck. It was the only way to keep it from growing back. We did this four more times until it was just a large body without any heads. It looked significantly less threatening without the giant heads. Percy finished it off with a stab in the chest and the hydra crumbled to dust.

"That was fun," Percy joked as he pulled me into a kiss. It was a sweaty, monster-dust covered kiss, but it was alright.

"The fuse-box!" I said suddenly as I pulled away. I ran off towards the fuse box to find it still sparking and making smoke. Thank the gods it hadn't caught fire, that would have been bad to say the least. But it was still smoking and the power was probably out in half the school.

"We have to stop it!" I said. Percy, who had absolutely no way with electronics, looked around frantically.

"Will water help?" he asked.

"No, water will make it worse. We need an insulator so that the wire's stop sparking," I said.

"Insulator?"

"Plastic or rubber, Seaweed Brain," I explained.

"Oh, I'll go find something. You keep things from exploding," he said, and he ran off. As I waited, I could hear through the windows people inside freaking out over the power-outage I had caused. I kept thinking how likely it was that a janitor would come up here and find me standing by a fuse-box that could explode at any second. At the very least I would be expelled. It was likely I could end up in jail for trying to destroy a school. Neither of those options sounded very fun.

Finally Percy came back carrying… was that an inflatable duck floatie? It looked like it was plastic so it would have to do.

"I found this in a pool in one of the houses near-bye," he said. It indeed was an inflatable duck. I pressed it against the box and it stopped the sparking. Eventually the smoke calmed too. We had succeeded yet another day in not destroying the school… mostly.

"Nice job," I said once I was sure the box was secure.

"We make a good team," he said.

"Are you just now figuring that out?" I asked.

"Nope, just reminding you," he said. He leaned in again for a kiss. I happily complied.

"We should get back to class…" I said. Percy groaned in protest, but we walked back together to Greek Class.

We quietly sat back in our seats. This classroom wasn't in the building that had lost power due to the fuse-box, so class was still going on as usual. I took my usual seat between Laura and Percy. Laura was staring at me like I had just come out of an alien spaceship.

"What is wrong with your clothes?" she asked. I looked down at my uniform. My skirt was charred and my shirt was covered in holes and burns. There were twigs in my hair and my entire body had a fine layer of monster dust. Percy didn't look much better.

"Umm…" I said.

"Don't lie, what were you guys doing?" she asked. She sounded deadly serious, something she hardly did.

"We were just…"

"Annabeth, tell me the truth. I saw the monster. What is going on?"

**I'm just saying I have no idea how electricity works, so if you're an electrician just sitting there like "This girl is an idiot" please just keep it to yourself. Pretend that whole thing was electrically accurate. **

**Oh, and it looks like Laura knows something. What could this mean?**

**I'm out in all that demigodishness.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**-Arrietta**


	25. Chapter 25

***Percy is killing monsters like a boss***

***Sings* "Slashing empousai. (Like a BOSS) Stabbing dracanae. (Like a BOSS) Slicing gorgons. (Like a BOSS). Hit on Annabeth. (Like a BOSS). Get rejected. (Like a BOSS) Swallow heartache. (Like a BOSS) Save Olympus. (Like a BOSS)"**

**Well that just happened.**

**Are you as concerned about my mental health as I am?**

**Question answering time!**

**Q. Do you like horses?**

**A. Not particularly, no. I don't have anything against horses, I just don't really like them that much. Unless it's Blackjack. That is one awesome horse. **

**Q. Have you developed self-diagnosed ADHD because of Percy Jackson?**

**A. Yes. Ever since I started this series I have seriously thought that I have ADHD just so I could have a chance at being a demigod (which I know is impossible because I have identifiable features from both of my parents). Also every time someone says that they have ADHD or Dyslexia I have just been like "Are you a demigod?" and then they look at me weird. **

**Okay yeah, here's the chapter. **

"Annabeth, tell me the truth. I saw the monster. What is going on?" Laura said. I couldn't breathe for a second. The entire battle had been in front of the window, but mortals shouldn't have been able to see it. Not through the Mist. Not unless…

"What exactly did you see?" Annabeth asked.

"A snake-monster with five heads. Percy was fighting it with a sword, and then you came and lit it on fire," she said.

"Laura, have you seen… weird things like this before?" I asked.

"What do you mean?" she said.

"Like, things that shouldn't exist. Things that can't exist. Things that no one else sees," I said.

"How did you know?" she said. "I mean, I always thought it was just my imagination getting the better of me."

"We'll talk about this later. Skip your next class and we'll talk," I said. Annabeth gave me a weird look.

"Θα πάμε να της πω?" she said quietly. _Are we going to tell her? _I nodded. If Laura could see through the Mist, we would have to tell her the truth.

Class ended. Laura was staring at me intensely. She used to have a very innocent look about her. She was carefree and curious, but all of that was gone. She was staring at me like she I wasn't human (which I'm not entirely, but details, details). She was staring at Annabeth too, maybe afraid that she would try to kill her like she had done with the hydra.

"Explain, now," she demanded when we entered the hallway.

"Not here, follow me," I said. She and Annabeth followed me. I led us into an abandoned classroom. Laura was still giving me that weird stare.

"Okay… so Annabeth and I have something that we should tell you," I said.

"But you can't tell anyone. No one else can know this. Understand?" Annabeth added.

"Depends, are you a murderer or something?" Laura asked.

"No… it's not like that. Yes, we just killed something, but it was a monster," Annabeth said.

"Are you a monster?"

"No, just listen for a minute, please," Annabeth said. She hated telling mortals about who she was, it was just awkward.

"Annabeth and I aren't monsters… but we aren't mortals either," I said.

"You're telling me you aren't humans?"

"Well, we're half humans. We're half-bloods," I said.

"And half what?"

"You know how we both do really well in Greek Class?"

"Sure…"

"It's because we're… we're Greek demigods, like in the legends," I said.

"This is so stupid. You actually want me to believe that you're Zeus's kid or something?"

"Actually Poseidon," I said.

"Both of you? Because that would make the whole engagement thing really creepy," Laura said.

"I'm a daughter of Athena, thank you very much," Annabeth snapped.

"Wasn't Athena a virgin goddess?"

"Athena _is_ a virgin goddess."

"Then how are you...?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Annabeth said.

"Okay, so you guys are demigods… that still doesn't explain why you were fighting a monster."

"Monsters attack, we fight them, it's kind of a thing," I explained. Laura still looked confused.

"What does any of this have to do with me?" she asked.

"The Mist keeps most mortals from seeing things like monsters and Percy's sword. Since you could see it, it means that you can see through the Mist," Annabeth explained.

"What does that mean?"

"It means that you get to live your life knowing the truth, unlike the rest of the world," I said.

"Okay… so you are actually demigods… and the monsters I've been seeing aren't just in my mind?"

"Yep," I said. Laura looked like she was getting a headache. I felt bad for her. I remembered when I first learned about all of this godly stuff. It was a lot to cope with.

"It's crazy, because I believe you. It makes sense. You guys are so weird about everything, we all knew you were keeping a secret. But this is just too much. Demigods? Really?"

"Yeah, it's a little crazy," Annabeth said. She smiled nervously. I gave a nervous smile back. Laura was taking this surprisingly well.

We spent the rest of second period answering Laura's questions about, as Leo would say, demigodishness. I was okay with it because I got to skip Geometry and I don't think Annabeth was that depressed about missing science either.

We even told her how we had been through war. We didn't go much into detail, but she seemed to be shocked by that too. Not as shocked as she was when we told her we were half-bloods, but still shocked. It sounds crazy, but sometimes I forgot that normal kids didn't fight for their lives on a daily basis. I forgot that normal kids haven't watched their friends die. I forgot that normal kids haven't killed someone. I forgot that normal kids haven't lived what I've lived. Laura's reaction was a good reminder.

**Look at me and all of these plot twists I'm adding. Hey so this is what I think all of you guys should do. **

_**Your random friend: Do you know any good fanfictions?**_

**_You: Yes, read Arrietta Vistoso because she is beautiful and funny and smart and amazing._**

**Yep, that should totally be a conversation you have. Seriously though if you recommend me to someone I will be like the happiest person ever. **

**And pasta. **

**Thanks for reading and leave a review!**

**-Arrietta**


	26. Chapter 26

***Percy is reading Pertemis fanfics***

***Throws computer out the window***

**Sorry if you're obsessed with those, but they kind of make me sick. It's just my opinion, I don't judge you if you love them. Just like I hope you don't judge me for having a weird obsession with Christmas one-shots. **

**Okay, I have questions to answer!**

**Q. Was that a ****_Hetalia_**** joke at the end?**

**A. I have no idea what Hetalia is, so I'm going to go with no. **

**Q. Who would your godly parent be?**

**A. Athena, because I'm brilliant like that. And I'll kick your butt in a Nerf war, so don't even start with me. **

**Q. What was your reaction to the ending of MoA?**

**A. Okay so I got that the day it came out and finished it in three days. I would have finished it faster, but I had that annoying thing called school and a pile of homework. So when I finished it it was about three in the morning so I couldn't really scream like I felt like doing. First I reread it about fifty times to make sure I was right, then I had a silent freak out followed by crying myself to sleep. The next morning I pretty much just spoiled it to everyone, even people who don't read the books. I spent the next few months reading nonstop fanfiction, rereading the books, looking at tons of Percabeth fanart, and basically talking about nothing but PJO. And if you're curious, I'm still doing that. I don't think I'll be emotionally stable again until HoH, which will probably be an even worse cliffhanger. Long story short that book ruined my life. **

**I doubt anyone actually just read that whole mini rant. Sorry, I'm a ranter (wow, I didn't know ranter was actually a word).**

**Here's the chapter!**

It was November, and winter was definitely coming. I had taken to wearing one of Percy's oversized hoodies at all times. He complained in a playful way, and I would just wrap myself up even more in it. It was a blue hoodie, it was way too big for me, but somehow it felt like it fit perfectly. And it smelled like Percy. I lost focus in Calculus the other day and started mindlessly sniffing it and smiling. A girl across the room gave me a really weird look. I didn't really care though, the hoodie made me happy.

We were visiting camp again for the weekend. I stood with Percy at the top of the hill. On the mortal side, it was snowing lightly. I was shivering in the cold. I had never coped well with cold weather, but Percy looked perfectly comfortable. I pulled his hoodie around me tighter, trying to get warm. Percy wrapped his arms around me sweetly to warm me up.

"Better?" he asked.

"Yes, can we just go into camp?" I said. Just a few feet away was a nice warm camp with green grass, and I was standing here in the snow. But Percy was holding me, and it was comfortable and warm too.

"Let's go!" he said. Then he scooped me up and threw me over his shoulder.

"What are you doing, Seaweed Brain?!" I screamed. He was carrying me around like this as I kicked and screamed and struggled.

We passed the magical boarder and I might have accidently hit him in the head during the struggle. Anyway, he fell and I fell with him. We rolled all the way down the hill. Percy reached out and grabbed my hand, and we fell holding hands.

"Hello lovebirds," Nico said when we reached the bottom. He was wearing his typical all black and aviator jacket. It was in strong contrast to Hazel, who quickly appeared next to him. She was wearing a bright colored jumper that was a bit juvenile for your average fourteen year old, but it looked nice on her. She was followed by Frank. Frank still looked lost even though he had been at camp for a few months now.

"Hello," I said.

"What's up?" Frank asked.

"Just falling and stuff," I said.

"You two making that a habit?" he said. That was a morbid joke if I ever heard one.

There was an awkward silence.

"Well we have stuff to do, so we'll be on our way," Percy said. We ran off towards the cabins.

Can you guess who we ran into?

None other than Leo Valdez.

"Hey people! I beat my personal not burning anything record again! It's been a whole week!" he shouted.

"Leo! You lit all of Drew's makeup brushes on fire on Tuesday! She's still yelling at me for it!" Piper shouted as she joined us.

"I don't think that should count. Her brushes shouldn't have been in the forge in the first place," he defended.

"It counts," Piper said flatly.

"Where's Jason?" Percy asked.

"Camp Jupiter. He's doing his ultimate praetor lord business," Leo said. Piper looked a little sad as he was saying this. She was probably missing him, and I felt bad for her. But Piper was strong, and Jason wouldn't be away for long. She quickly changed her sad face to her normal happy one.

"Cool," Percy said.

"How's high school?" Piper asked. I could tell she meant "How's life with Percy all day every day?"

"Great… except a hydra attacked last week. Oh, and we found out one of our friends can see through the Mist," I said.

"You have friends?" Leo asked. Piper ignored him.

"Really? Did you tell her about all of _this_?" she asked.

"Most of it. She's been asking some of the weirdest questions, like if we wear togas all the time. It's weird, the things people come up with," I said.

"Weird… Wait, that would be fun! We should have a toga party!" Piper said.

"No."

"No."

"No."

"Well then, I guess I never have good ideas," Piper said, offended that we didn't want to dance around in bed-sheets.

"Pretty much," Leo said. He and Piper started bickering and Percy and I took the opportunity to sneak away.

We ended up at the arena. "You thinking what I 'm thinking?" Percy asked.

"You're on," I said, drawing my dagger. Percy uncapped Riptide and we were on. Percy attacked first. I dodged and got behind him, one of my classic moves. My knife swung at his back, but Percy knew this move. He intercepted my arm and we were fighting again. There were several minutes of intense fighting. I was soon sweating and panting. Percy was looking tired too. The exhaustion was getting gto me and I let my guard down. Percy took the opportunity and knocked my dagger out of my hand. I was defenseless.

"Any last words, Wise Girl?" Percy said. He had his sword pointed at my chest, but he wasn't paying attention to it. He was looking at me. This was my perfect opportunity. I kicked Riptide out of his hand and it scattered across the arena floor. Percy was shocked, and in those few seconds I shoved him to the ground and put my foot on his chest.

"Sorry Seaweed Brain, you can't beat me," I said. Percy smiled. He grabbed my hand and pulled me onto the ground next to him.

"It's not fair. You distracted me," he said. "I would have won if you weren't so beautiful."

"Excuses, excuses," I teased. We lied on the ground in the arena for a few minutes, catching our breath.

"What are you doing?" a voice said. It was Nico again. That kid had the worst timing I swear.

"Nothing," Percy said lazily.

"Were you guys making out in here or something?" he asked. We were sweating, panting, lying on the ground, and our weapons weren't near us. Yup, it looked suspicious.

"No!" I shouted. Percy just snickered. "We were fighting!" I said.

"Sure…" Nico said, awkwardly backing out.

"Percy!" I yelled at him.

"What?"

"You are such an idiot!"

"I love you too."

**Oh Nico, everyone loves you. I bet that he's going to be the creepiest little thing in HoH and we're all going to be freaking out because Percy and Annabeth might become all creepy like that from being in Tartarus. **

**So today I was watching ****_Pocahontas_**** (because I'm mature like that) with my mom and at the end when she didn't go with John Smith I started comparing them to Percabeth. **

**I said how Percy and Annabeth were really in love because he fell into Tartarus rather than be with without her. Then my mom said "So he died for her?" and I basically started screaming at her about how they aren't dead and how they're going to make it etc. etc. Like I said, these books are ruining my life and now my mom is concerned about my mental health. **

**Thanks for reading, and I've been getting the nicest reviews ever and I love everyone, except Rick Riordan. Fictional characters cause me more emotional distress than any real people ever have. **

**Thanks for reading, oh wait I already said that. Oh well I'm saying it again. **

**-Arrietta**


	27. Chapter 27

**"This boy is on fire!" Leo sings *pointing to himself* *on fire***

**"This boy is ON FIRE!"**

***Jason enters***

**"Leo?"**

**"Hey, check it out, I'm the Boy on Fire, I'm like Peeta!"**

**"Leo..."**

**Well then. Welcome to the chapter thing-a-ma-bob. It's short, but don't be sad, just enjoy it's short and fluffiness. **

Annabeth and I were enjoying our evening at camp. We were sitting in the strawberry fields and she was trying to read a book. It was a school book, so it wasn't in Greek. She was struggling.

"Percy, what does this word say?" She pointed to a word on a page. It looked like alphabet soup to me. That thought made me hungry.

"I don't know, my dyslexia is even worse than yours," I said.

"This is so stupid. How am I supposed to read an entire book in English? Especially Shakespeare!" she complained. I understood completely. Reading Shakespeare was torture for your average person, but for someone who can't read English? Forget it.

"Just buy a Greek copy. That's what I did," I said. Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"But that won't help me. I'm going to have to use English everyday in my life. I can't just turn in an essay written in Ancient Greek. And in the future, they'll be paperwork and that'll have to be in English too," she said. I was having trouble following her logic. She had to suffer through Shakespeare so that she could write office memos someday?

"Umm, I think that word is 'saucy fellow'," I said after taking a second look at the book. That was a really weird thing to call someone.

"Thank you," she said. "You're a saucy fellow," she smiled jokingly. I didn't know what that meant, but I took it as a compliment.

"You too…" I said awkwardly. She shook her head and laughed. Her blonde hair fell in front of her eyes as she looked down at the book. I brushed the hair out of her eyes. Her beautiful gray eyes, staring at the book with determination. I loved that determined look she had, it was the look she got whenever she was faced with a problem. And she always found a way out of the problem.

I kissed her on the lips. "I'm busy, Seaweed Brain," she said. I backed off, slightly saddened. She looked up and laughed. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Sorry," I said. She kissed me back.

"What are you sorry about?" she asked. She kissed me again. It was a good day in the strawberry fields.

**I really have no idea what just happened. **

**Go forth and enjoy life and eat cereal (it will make Demeter happy). **

**Thanks for reading!**

**-Arrietta**


	28. Chapter 28

**So I don't have a little mini story, but I'm just going to set the scene for one and let you imagine it. **

**Leo and Prince Zuko are having a firebending battle. Leo is running around like crazy (probably on fire), shouting ridiculous insults, and Zuko is just all shirtless and shooting fire at him and being just a little ball of angst. I personally think this would be hilarious. **

**And another thing: Who would win? Leo can't really be burned by fire, but Zuko obviously has more muscle and skill. Leave a review after that fantasy plays out in your head and tell me who wins. **

**Onto question answering!**

**Q. Do you ship Thalico?**

**A. Sorry, I don't. Mostly because after reading Demigod Diaries I became a Thaluke shipper. Of course then Thalia became a tree and Luke turned evil, so that didn't really work out. Also Thalia is now an eternal maiden, so just no. Plus they're cousins. **

**On a side note, I discovered a new ship this morning called Captide. It's basically Annabeth's cap and Riptide. Sure, I'll ship that. Why not?**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

My nightmares hadn't been getting much better. When we first escaped Tartarus they were every night. And they were bad. I couldn't sleep at all unless Percy had his arms around me. Even then they still came, for the both of us. But they were bearable when we were together. For those first few days after our escape while the war was still going on we would sleep in each other's arms, and no one asked any questions.

Now they were manageable enough that I could sleep through most nights in my own bed. But the sleep was still somewhat restless when the nightmares came. I could never really feel safe unless Percy's arms were around me.

Tonight I had an especially terrible one. I was back in the darkness, but this time I was alone. Percy had let me fall alone, and I was on my own in Tartarus. And it was horrible. I woke up sweating and screaming. Most of my siblings were giving me dirty looks.

"Sorry," I said. But they understood. It wasn't the first time this had happened. I pulled Percy's hoodie closer to body, but it wasn't enough to calm me down. I tried to go back to sleep, but I couldn't bring myself to close my eyes again. I couldn't return to the darkness.

I waited a few minutes, until my siblings were asleep again. Thank Hypnos they all fell asleep quickly. I crept out of the bed and to the door. I silently opened it and snuck out. I wasn't going to let the nightmares get the best of me again.

In case you couldn't guess, I was going to Percy's cabin. I arrived at the door and saw through the little window that he wasn't sleeping either. He was sitting on the bed, his head on his hands. He looked like he was trying to figure something out.

I gave a quiet knock on the door. Percy jumped from the bed, drew Riptide, and walked cautiously towards the door. I backed up because I didn't want to be impaled.

He opened the door, ready to slash whatever it was. Then he noticed it was me and smiled. He scooped me into a hug.

"Nightmares?" he asked.

"Yup," I said.

"Me too," he said. He led me into the cabin, still hugging me. We sat down on the bed, he was still holding me tightly.

"What was yours?" I asked.

He was quiet, still not letting go of me. "I dreamed that you fell without me. I let you fall. It was the worst dream I ever had. I had let you fall, and I was alone," he said sadly, as if he felt guilty for even letting his dream self leave me.

"I dreamed the same thing, I mean, you let me fall. And I was alone in the darkness," I said. Percy hugged me tighter.

"You know I'd never leave you. It would kill me," he said. I nodded. We sat like this for a moment, just holding each other and reminding ourselves that we were _together_.

"I don't want to go back to my cabin," I said.

"I wasn't going to make you," he said. We laid down on the bed, facing each other. Percy had one arm around my back, holding me close to him. His other hand was holding my face as he gave me a soft kiss. I cuddled closer to him. I rested my head on his chest as he stroked my hair. It was the little things like hearing his heartbeat and feeling the warmth of his body that kept the nightmares away. His arm draped over me protectively made me feel like nothing could hurt me. Nothing could rip me away from him.

"I love you," I whispered. I said that a lot. And I always meant it. I was absolutely, undoubtedly in love with Percy Jackson. I wasn't the kind of girl who needed to be protected very often, but when I did, he was always there. Like tonight, he would protect me from the nightmares, and I would do the same. Because that's what you do when you love someone, you protect them.

"I love you too," he whispered. A grin spread across his face. He always smiled like that when he looked at me. And his eyes lit up, they were already so bright, but when he looked at me I could see them get a little bit brighter.

And I fell asleep in his arms. And the nightmares stayed away.

**Thanks for reading!**

**-Arrietta**


	29. Chapter 29

***Everyone is off doing couple things, leaving Leo and Nico awkwardly alone together***

**Leo: "So do you wanna-"**

**Nico: "No" *walks away***

**Leo: "I was just going to ask if you wanted to play some Mythomagic!"**

**Hey everybody!**

**So far it looks like most of you think Leo would win the firebending battle. As much as I love Leo, I actually had my bets on Zuko. Oh well. **

**Question time!**

**Q. Why do they have to speak Greek in class?**

**A. Sorry, that wasn't really what I was going for. I was trying to make it more of a history of Greece class where they would just teach very basic Greek. I just always have Percy and Annabeth speaking in Greek in that class because I think the idea of a "secret language" that no one else can understand is super romantic. So no, it's not really a Greek language class, it was just them having a "secret language".**

**Q. Did you watch the ball drop?**

**A. I did, and I also watched T-Swizzle (please don't hate me for putting that, I just had to) and OneRepublic perform. Sorry for any Swifties, but I think OneRepublic did a much better job. But that's probably just my taste in music. And now I'm talking about music and I bet no one cares... **

**Umm... Chapter!**

It was the day before Thanksgiving. Annabeth had become a bit of a recluse studying for our exams that were still a month away. I told her that she was already the smartest student in every class and she would get a perfect score in every class, but she wouldn't listen. And she tried to get me to study too. I'll admit, I needed it. Even with all the help she had been giving me, none of my grades other than Greek were above a C.

She and Laura had also grown a lot closer since we told her who we were. They started doing that girl thing where they're laughing about something and when you ask what they're laughing about they just smile but don't say anything. It was annoying because I kept thinking they were talking about me or something.

What was I talking about? Right, Thanksgiving. Well, my mom thought it would be a great idea to spend it with Paul's family. I thought it was a terrible idea. The last time I had met Paul's family was the wedding and well… there was an Empousia. Use your imagination. So long story short they all think I'm a freak. And of course my mom thinks I can redeem myself by being a perfect gentleman and not causing any party guests to mysteriously disappear. I think what she's really hoping for is that Annabeth will keep me out of trouble.

The four of us were in the car driving to Paul's sister Amy's house in New Jersey. Amy and her husband Nate seemed to hate me more than the rest of the family. It might be because Amy had made the cake and I might have destroyed it with my sword. Not that they saw the sword or the demon I was fighting. Everyone thought I just lost control and attacked the cake with a serving knife. They also had a son, Jeff, who was an infant the last time I saw him. He would probably be about two now.

"Remember that no one knows you're demigods, so don't let it slip," my mom said for the thousandth time. Annabeth didn't even look up from her book.

"Got it, that's what we usually do in front of people," I said. It wasn't like I needed the reminder. I kept the secret everyday at school.

"And if anything attacks…" she said nervously.

"We'll handle it," I said. "Right Annabeth?"

She didn't move.

"Annabeth!" I shouted.

"What?"

"We're going to be normal, right?"

"Sure…" she said, looking back to her book. There was no way I could start a conversation with her. She was much too focused. So I stared blankly out the window the entire three hours to Amy and Nate's house.

Their house was huge. Okay, it wasn't exactly a mansion, but it was still pretty big. It made our apartment, which was a decent size, look miniscule.

Annabeth finally broke out of her studying trance and started to appreciate the building. All I could think of was how long it would stay standing when I was here.

Amy greeted us at the door. Amy was one of those people who always had to be perfect. She was wearing a nice dress and had her hair curled. She smelled strongly and was wearing a lot of colorful makeup. She looked like one of those TV moms who spent all of their time baking pies and sharing gossip on the phone.

Her overly perfect appearance matched the house. It was one of those houses that was more for show than living. I had never liked those kinds of houses, they made me feel uncomfortable and I was always afraid I was going to break something. The front room was spacious and had expensive looking furniture in it.

"Hey Amy," Paul said as he hugged his sister. "You remember Sally?"

"Yes, so nice to see you again," Amy shook my mom's hand. Even though she was smiling, I could see all of the discontent in her eyes. She was looking at my mom's simple jeans and blazer as if it were an insult to wear such trashy clothes in her home. Then she looked at me. There was a split-second of disgust on her face. Then she masked it with her rehearsed smile.

"You remember my son Percy?" my mom said.

"Yes, of course. And who's this?" Amy gestured to Annabeth. Annabeth was standing close to me, arms crossed and still wearing my blue hoodie. She had stolen it one morning and refused to give it back.

"This is Annabeth, Percy's girlfriend," my mom said.

"Oh, so nice of you to bring her to a _family_ gathering," Amy said. She didn't seem to like the idea of either me or Annabeth being here. The feeling was mutual, I didn't want to be here either.

"Annabeth's practically part of the family, she's been staying with us the past few months while she and Percy are at school," Paul explained. Amy tried to hide her look of disgust that her brother was allowing such things in his home.

"In that case, nice to meet you Annabeth. I'm Amy," she said, shaking Annabeth's hand. "Come inside everyone."

We entered the front room. I saw about twenty things that would probably break if I just looked at them too long. Nate came into the room. He had a slightly balding head and wore a hideous holiday sweater.

"Hello everyone," Nate said. He was carrying a small child in his arms. "Jeff, do you remember Uncle Paul?" The little boy buried his head into his father's shoulder and didn't speak.

"Sorry, Jeff is a little shy," Amy said.

"He's so cute," my mom said.

"Thank you, he was actually in a Fisher Price commercial last year. I would have continued his career in television, but I was afraid it would interfere with his learning. He's only two, but he's already in Pre-school. And he's doing so well," Amy bragged. I had a feeling that she was trying to start one of those my-kid-is-better-than-your-kid things. I have to say that I didn't have much going for me in those. Sure I was a good sword fighter and I saved the world, but you couldn't really brag about that stuff to mortals.

"Oh that's nice," my mom said. She was kind of above trying to get a rise out of people with bragging, which she totally could have done by talking about Annabeth's perfect grades in her AP classes. Amy looked disappointed that she didn't get to talk about Jeff anymore.

"Well, dinner will be ready in half an hour. You should go get settled in," Amy said. We walked upstairs to the guest bedrooms. There were a total of four spare bedrooms. One for my mom and Paul, one for Annabeth, one for me, and still an extra. I didn't understand why they felt the need to have four empty bedrooms, but people with money did a lot of weird things.

We each went into our separate rooms. Mine was eerily clean. The walls were white, along with the sheets, pillows, and comforter. The brightness of the room gave me a headache, so I threw my bag on the bed and came right back out.

"Do you get the feeling that we aren't welcome here?" Annabeth asked as I entered the hallway. She was still crossing her arms.

"Pretty much," I said. "But it's only for two days."

"Amy already hates me. I didn't even speak to her and she hates me," Annabeth said.

"Since when have you cared if people hate you? I actually thought you got some kind of sick satisfaction from it…"

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain," she said as she punched me in the arm. We walked down the stairs and into the kitchen.

"Hello," Amy said as we entered. She was cooking a meal of foods I couldn't exactly identify.

"Hello," Annabeth said.

"So tell me Percy, how did you and Annabeth meet," Amy asked. Like I said, she seemed like the kind of person who loved gossip.

"A summer camp we both go to," I said.

"Summer camp? What kind of summer camp?" she asked.

"A special one… for ADHD and dyslexic kids," I said. It wasn't a complete lie.

"Annabeth has those disabilities too?"

"They aren't really disabilities," I said. I hated it when people treated me like I had some kind of huge disability. I should have said some other cover for the camp, but it was too late now.

"Oh sure they are, it's nothing to be ashamed of that you have so much trouble in school," Amy said with a smile. Her smile was saying how worthless she thought the both of us were.

"I don't have trouble in school," Annabeth said. "I'm top of the class." Unlike my mother, Annabeth wasn't afraid to play the brag game.

"Really?" Amy said, looking at Annabeth as if she were surprised she could even speak. "Anyways, tell me more about you two. Have you been dating long?"

"A little over a year, but we've known each other for years," I said.

"How nice," Amy said, her voice coated in sweetness. She was becoming exponentially more annoying with each passing second.

"Oh good, your all getting to know each other," Paul said as he entered the room with my mom.

"Yes, such sweet little kids," Amy said. "Now, you haven't told me why Annabeth has been staying with you. Where are your parents?"

"My dad lives out in San Francisco," Annabeth said.

"Why aren't you there with him?"

"I just have a lot of… connections in New York. It made more sense for me to stay here," Annabeth explained.

"What about your mother?" Amy asked. I should say that one of the other reasons Amy doesn't like me very much is because my mother and father weren't married and my dad went missing. She thinks I'm some kind of hoodlum because of it.

"My mom lives in New York too…" Annabeth said.

"But you don't live with her?"

"Amy, leave her alone. Everyone has their own situation," Paul said. Amy gave him a vicious stare, and gave Annabeth a pitying look.

"Dinner's ready," she said with a smile.

**Well that was sufficiently awkward. **

**Have a Happy New Year full of Zefron horcruxes!**

**Peace out and thanks for reading!**

**-Arrietta**


	30. Chapter 30

***Percy smelling perfume***

***gags***

**"What are you doing?" Drew asks.**

***Percy gags***

**"Get out of my cabin!"**

***gags***

***Piper enters***

**"Oh, not again. ANNABETH! He's breaking into cabins again!" Piper screams.**

***Percy gags***

**And we are bringing back that plot-line because I missed it. **

**Wow, you reviewers have been busy! I have questions to answer.**

**Q. What was your favorite part of AVPM?**

**A. *Clap* "Racist sister! That's Lavender Brown!" ~Ron**

**Q. Are you ADHD?**

**A. I've never been tested, so no. But I do have some very ADHD tendencies (she says with seven internet tabs open, an iPod playing, three books open, and a half-finished fanart sketch going). Basically I have trouble focusing. **

**Q. (I'm not typing this out because it was too long. Go to the reviews if you want to read it)**

**A. Sure...**

**Okay here is the chapter. **

The whole first day was awkward, and that was only with Amy, Nate, and Jeff. Today was the big Thanksgiving dinner with all of Paul's relatives. I hoped they wouldn't all be as bad as Amy.

"Morning," Percy said as I came down for breakfast. There were already new family members at the table. A middle-aged couple and a college aged girl.

"Morning," I said as I sat between Percy and the girl.

"Hey, I'm Macy," the girl said. "Percy's… cousin, I guess."

"I'm Annabeth," I said. Macy looked a little edgy and rebellious, nothing close to what Thalia looked like, but Amy was still giving her the glare of disapproval. I had a feeling anyone who didn't fit in with her perfect ideas got that glance.

I'm just going to say it, I didn't like Amy. She was judgmental and just plain rude. I had to remind myself every two seconds that it was bad manners for a house guest to punch her hostess in the face, because that's pretty much what I felt like doing.

Amy walked towards the table with a plate of bacon. "The wicked witch approaches," Macy said under her breath. I laughed a little, at least someone else in the family hated her too.

Throughout the day, various family members arrived. Old people, young people, all of them getting disapproving scowls from Amy. Somehow, Percy, Macy, and I ended up playing poker on the floor in the basement. It was fun, Macy turned out to be a pretty cool girl and we mostly ranted about how annoying Amy was.

But then it was time for dinner, we were forced to interact with Amy again. The meal looked amazing, I had to say. And having all of those people there, even if I hardly knew them, there was a weird feeling. I had never been to a family gathering like this, unless you counted campfire sing-along's at camp. This was completely foreign to me.

I sat between Percy and Macy again. Amy sat at the head of the table and started to make some kind of speech. Needless to say I didn't care and I didn't listen. Instead I said my own little prayer, thanking the gods. I had a lot to be thankful for. A lot of people who didn't know my story, but just heard it thought I had a hard life. And I guess my life was hard, but it still wasn't all that bad. Sure, my family was messed up, no doubt about it. Sure I had seen death and betrayal and war. But my life still wasn't all that bad. I knew that I had a home in a lot of places. My dad loved me, despite all of our problems, Sally would always welcome me at her place, and of course I had camp. Camp was a million things in itself to be thankful for. All of my friends were there, and I could be thankful that most of them were still alive. And camp was where I met Percy.

Percy was what I was really thankful for. I hated to admit it, but he had saved me. I hated saying that, it makes me sound like a silly princess who waits for her prince to save her. I'm pretty sure everyone knows that I am not that kind of girl, but Percy really did save me. And not just the little everyday savings from monsters or rude people at school. I had actually been told that someone would be coming to camp to save me, and that was Percy. We went on all of our adventures together, and through the years I changed, I became a different person, because he had saved me. And now we were together, and that was all that mattered. And the being engaged part was pretty awesome too.

Amy finished her little speech and people began passing dishes and filling their plates. As I filled mine, I noticed the others looking curiously at the blue mashed potatoes that Sally had brought. Percy and I both served ourselves extra large helpings of the blue food.

Percy and I were completely ignored for the majority of the meal, which I was completely okay with. Of course with Percy and I you could never have a normal family dinner. Nope, something completely crazy just had to happen.

"BROTHER!" our favorite Cyclops shouted as he ran into Amy's perfectly decorated dining room. I had no idea how he got in the house or why, but here he was.

"Tyson?!" Percy said with a piece of turkey hanging out of his mouth.

"BROTHER!" Tyson repeated. The room was silent, staring at the large boy who had just interrupted the perfect picture.

"What are you doing here?" Percy asked.

"Ella is scared. Ella is scared because people are eating birdies today. Ella doesn't want to be eaten," Tyson said. Percy quickly took the piece of turkey out of his mouth and put it back on the plate.

"Who is this?" Macy asked.

"He's my half brother… on my dad's side," Percy explained. Amy looked utterly disgusted.

"Percy, why don't you, Annabeth, and Tyson go outside and talk about this," Sally said. She was giving everyone at the table apologetic looks. Percy and I stood and led Tyson outside.

On the front yard, Ella was sitting in a tree and looking as nervous as ever. Tyson ran up to the base of the tree to get her down. They weren't exactly "dating", but Tyson and Ella had been practically inseparable since they met. I couldn't help but being curious what their children would look like if they ever did get together. Then the thought that those little creatures would be nieces and nephews entered my mind. As if my family situation wasn't screwed up enough, there was now the possibility of being an aunt to the creepiest babies in existence.

"I found them! Percy and Annabeth will protect you!" Tyson announced.

"Hello Percy. Happy Thanksgiving. Turkey Day. People eat turkey. Turkey is bird. Harpy is bird. Thanksgiving is bad for harpies. Ella is harpy," Ella said. She spoke so quickly I was surprised I understood any of that.

"Hey Ella. Why exactly did you have to interrupt us? People don't eat harpies," Percy said.

"Ella is scared and I didn't want Ella to be scared because Ella is pretty," Tyson said. Percy face-palmed.

"Tyson, why don't _you_ protect Ella from Thanksgiving then," he said.

"Because… Brother is smart. Percy is smart like Annabeth. Annabeth has made Percy be smart!" Tyson said. I knew Tyson was slow (no offense), but the fact that he decided to track us down in New Jersey before trying to protect Ella himself was a little hard to believe.

"Yep, Annabeth has been rubbing off on me," Percy grinned. I punched him in the arm. Punching him was fun.

"You just figure that out, Seaweed Brain?" I said.

"Thank you! Ella and I are going to go hide from mean bird killers," Tyson said. He and Ella ran off without another word.

"I think I'm done eating turkey for a while…" Percy said.

"Yeah, I don't really have any desire to go back in their either," I said.

"There's an arcade down the street. Want to go?" Percy suggested.

"An arcade?"

"It'll be fun. Besides, it's the arcade or going back to that dinner," he said.

"Fine," I said. So we went to the arcade, and I beat Percy in almost every game except for that one with the targets and the water guns. But I think he cheated and manipulated the water in his so that shouldn't really count. And it was a weird Thanksgiving, but definitely one of my best.

**Thanks for reading. That ending was so weird even I didn't see it coming. **

**Oh, and to the reviewer who "destroyed my Zefron horcrux": I have a Nerf gun, and I know how to use it. You should be scared. **

**Thanks for reading!**

**-Arrietta**


	31. Chapter 31

**"Who wants s'mores?" Leo says.**

**"Can we please use the campfire this time?" Hazel asks.**

**"Nope," Leo says. *Lights bag of marshmallows on fire, plastic and all***

**"LEO!" everyone else screams. **

**Okay, you guys have been showing a lot of hate towards Amy. I did make it so that you are supposed to hate her, but wow. You guys seriously want her killed or worse. Everyone please take a deep breath and think happy loving thoughts. Please, I don't want to be responsible for any murders. **

**Question time!**

**Q. What's your favorite Percabeth moment?**

**A. Oh this is a hard question! The two cutest moments are definitely the underwater kiss and the night in the stables. But there's also a bunch of times when they prove they're love for each other, like Annabeth taking the knife, Percy refusing immortality, Annabeth counting the minutes Percy is missing, Percy only remembering Annabeth, and of course the ending of MoA which was like the ultimate proof of love for me. I just can't pick, please don't make me.**

**Q. What are your thoughts on the movie. **

**A. I personally think they should just forget the first one and start over. And use twelve-year-olds. And follow the plot. And Annabeth should be blonde. A lot of people say that the hair color doesn't matter, but for her I think it does. As a blonde, I get what Annabeth is going through with people not taking her seriously for being blonde. Honestly when most people meet me, between being blonde and me just having a bubbly personality, they think I'm stupid. People have been seriously confused when I tell them I'm an honor student, and they admit to thinking that I was stupid. So I think that being blonde really does affect her character and I like how it defies stereotypes. Just another reason Annabeth is such a role-model for me. **

**Well, that was quite the rant. **

**Here is the chapter. **

"Σ 'αγαπώ," I whispered to Annabeth. _I love you._

"Σ 'αγαπώ πάρα πολύ," she whispered back. _I love you too. _

"Would you two shut up," Laura said. "Some of us don't get an automatic pass in this class."

"It's not an automatic pass…" I said.

"Says the boy who just spoke fluent Greek," she said. Ever since she learned that Greek Mythology was real, Laura had become much more interested in the class.

"It's not my fault," I defended.

"Yeah, it's a birthright or something. You two get an A for flirting in class while the rest of us fail miserably even if we pay attention," she said.

"We weren't flirting," Annabeth said defensively.

"That look in your eyes was universal. You guys were flirting," she said. I didn't know that saying 'I love you' counted as flirting, but I really had no idea what flirting was. Annabeth had told me many times how oblivious I was to girls who flirted with me. I just thought they were being nice, which for Annabeth was the opposite of flirting. She had let me know she liked me over the years with subtle advances like holding her knife to my neck and screaming insults. Cute stuff like that.

Annabeth rolled her eyes and returned to her book. Now I was bored. So I tried something new, I listened to the teacher (cue dramatic music). She was talking about Poseidon, go figure.

"Percy," she said. Great, is this what happens when I listen? I get called on? I'm never paying attention in class again.

"Yes, Mrs. Breaders," I said.

"Could you please tell us about Poseidon's feud with Athena?" she asked. Annabeth stifled a laugh.

"Yeah, Poseidon and Athena both wanted to be the patron of the capital of Greece. They each gave the people a gift. Poseidon gave the people a salt water spring, which they didn't appreciate very much. Athena gave them an olive tree and they loved it, so they named Athens after her. So a very long and drawn out fight started and it caused a lot of problems when their kids tried to date and Athena tried to kill Poseidon's son a bunch of times," I said. The class gave me weird looks, but Annabeth, Laura, and I just tried to contain our laughter.

"Very good, for the most part Mr. Jackson," Mrs. Breaders said. I had a feeling she wouldn't be calling on me again anytime soon.

I zoned out for a while, but I was snapped out of my daze when something landed on my desk. It was a paper airplane. I had never been good at making those, but I remember Leo once made one that was really complex and could fly for almost a mile.

This airplane was covered in pink hearts and smelled like the Aphrodite Cabin. I looked around to see who threw it, and I saw a girl across the room staring and smiling at me. She was pretty I guess, and she definitely looked like one of the popular girls. I think I had seen her walking around school with the Oompa Loompa (that girl still weirded me out).

I unfolded the plane because I assumed there would be a note on it. There was, but it was in cursive. I had no chance of reading that, so I handed it to Laura.

"What the Hades?" she said (she had picked up on our Greek slang).

"A girl gave it to me, what does it say?"

"'All I want for Christmas is you, Baby,'" she read. I took the note back and scribbled a message on it. _Sorry, I don't celebrate Christmas. Happy Holidays and stay away from me. _I refolded the plane and threw it back at the girl. The teacher was so oblivious she didn't even notice. The girl anxiously unfolded the note and read it. I felt a little bad to see her disappointed face, but I was engaged so she probably should have known better than to send it in the first place.

A few classes later and it was lunchtime again. Throughout the course of the day I had gotten three more letters like the one from the morning. Each one was creepier than the last.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you," I said as I hugged Annabeth.

"What, did you have a big bad math test?" she teased.

"No, I've been getting these weird notes all day," I said. Most guys probably wouldn't tell their girlfriends about love letters they've received from other girls, but I hated keeping things from Annabeth.

"Can I see one?"

"No, I returned all of them," I said.

"What were they?"

"A bunch of girls asking me out," I said. Annabeth raised an eyebrow.

"A bunch of girls asking you out?" she asked.

"I said I returned them all. Geez, did you actually think I was going to say yes to them," I asked.

"Never mind Seaweed Brain. You just remember that you're stuck with me," she said.

"Wouldn't want to be stuck with anyone else," I said.

"Shut up with the mushy-gushy romantic blech," Jeremy said.

"Don't mind him, he doesn't have a soul," Tara said.

"I detest that comment," he said.

"I detest your face," Tara replied. They continued bickering like this as we sat down.

"So does anyone have plans for winter break yet?" Laura asked.

"Percy and I are going to visit my dad in San Francisco for a week, and then we're going to spend the other week at camp," Annabeth said.

"What about you?" I asked.

"Caribbean cruise with my grandma," she said.

"Wow, that sounds like so much fun," Annabeth said.

"It would be… if my grandma didn't wear a bikini the whole time." And we had that image on our minds as we ate our lunches.

**Okay, thanks for reading!**

**I feel like such a worthless human being. I have accomplished nothing today but drawing another Piper and a gender-bent Percy. And the Percy wasn't even good. **

**Bye! **

**-Arrietta**


	32. Chapter 32

***Percy is watching ATLA***

**"Maybe I am the Avatar, I can waterbend. And make earthquakes, which is like earthbending. And I made a hurricane, which is like airbending. I am the Avatar!"**

***attempts firebending***

***fails***

**"It is because fire is the element most unlike my own, water. I must find a firebending master."**

***thinks***

**"LEO!"**

**Flameo Hotman (hotwoman? never mind, that sounds creepy)! I didn't update yesterday. Who thought I was dead?**

**Okay, questions!**

**Q. Do you ship Thalico?**

**A. Pretty sure I already said I ship Thaluke.**

**Q. How far will this story go?**

**A. I think I'll take this one to the end of the school-year and then start another story picking up where it left off. I'm not sure yet. **

**Q. Will you be my friend?**

**A. It's like we're already sisters!**

**Okay this chapter is really short and kind of random, but enjoy!**

Percy and I were walking through Central Park when he made the biggest mistake of his life.

"I'll be right back," he said. Without another word he left me standing there in the cold and snow. The park was beautiful covered in a layer of snow, even if the cold weather wasn't really my thing. I was pretty annoyed that he just left me there with no explanation, and I was tempted to chase after him, but I didn't.

"He better have a good excuse," I grumbled to myself.

"Think fast, Wise Girl!" I heard a voice from behind me call. Before I could even turn around I was hit in the back with a snowball. When I finally turned I saw Percy grinning and holding another snowball, ready to attack.

"You're a dead man!" I screamed, bending over to scoop up some snow. As I built my snowball another one hit me in the leg. I threw my snowball at him and it was a perfect hit. The snow exploded across his face.

"Is that the best you've got?" he taunted. It was on. I was hoping he didn't really think he could win a snowball fight with the daughter of a war strategy goddess.

The fight was brutal, but Percy didn't have a chance.

"I give up! You win," he said after I hit him in the head for the fifth time in a row.

"Percy Jackson is surrendering? Surely not The Great Percy Jackson?" I teased.

"The Great Percy Jackson? I could get used to that," he said.

"Don't. It's not going to catch on," I said. He mocked disappointment. I rolled my eyes at his ridiculousness.

"I'm freezing, and you got snow all over me," I said. He slung his arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer to him. I had no idea how his body stayed so warm in this weather, but it did. I looked at him again and noticed that all of the snow was off of his clothes and body, whereas I was still covered in it and my hair was wet. That idiot used his water powers to get the snow off of him while I was still drenched and freezing.

He must have noticed me staring at his lack of being snow covered, because he touched my cheek and I instantly felt all of the snow leave my body. My hair was dry again.

"Better?" he asked. I replied by throwing my arms around his neck and kissing him. When we pulled away he smiled his smile that drove me crazy. Every time he smiled I was conflicted on whether I should punch him or kiss him.

"We should have snowball fights more often," he said. And that troublemaker smile of his drove me crazy again. And I opted for the second choice and I kissed him again.

**Oh the joy of having a boyfriend with superpowers. **

**Thanks for reading!**

**-Arrietta**


	33. Chapter 33

**How Every Pertemis Story Should End:**

**Percy: "My girlfriend turned into the moon" *sighs***

**Zuko: "That's rough buddy"**

**Percy: "Where did you come from?"**

**Zuko: "... HONOR!" *runs away***

**Just me, eternally not understanding Pertemis.**

**Question Time! (I feel like I should have a jingle for this. If you write jingles let me know.)**

**Q. Will you be my friend too?**

**A. Of course! I consider everyone here my friends. **

**Q. What are your thoughts on Jason Grace?**

**A. Ooh this is going to be such a rant. Okay, I know that there are a lot of people who hate on Jason, but I don't understand it. I'm rereading TLH right now, and he's pretty cool. I mean, he isn't on my list of fictional boyfriends (yet), but I still like him. I think it's pretty hard to get a full opinion on him yet. Let's face it, we hardly know the guy. He had no memories for the majority of TLH and he spent most of MoA either knocked out or possessed. We really don't know that much about his past or anything. I have a really strong feeling that HoH is going to be very Jason-centered. I feel like we'll hear all about his life, clear up his relationship with Reyna, and he'll develop a lot as a character. I also feel like by the end of HoH we are all going to be liking JAson a lot more, not as much as Percy, but who knows, he might make my fictional boyfriend list. **

**Side note, I challenge all of you to try explaining Jason's back-story without sounding like you are on crack:**

**"So he has this scar on his lip because he tried to eat a stapler as a baby. That was when he still lived with Thalia, she turned into a tree. Anyway, he ended up being raised by wolves..."**

**I was explaining him to one of my friends who hadn't read the books and she seriously thought I was doing drugs. **

**Enjoy the chapter!**

I woke up like it was normal Thursday. The first thing I did was walk into the kitchen to find Annabeth like I did every morning. She wasn't there. Worries started to fill my mind. She was always in the kitchen when I woke up. She could have been kidnapped. A monster could have attacked. She could have overslept; she would kill me if I had let her oversleep.

"Annabeth!" I called. I ran into her room, but she wasn't there either. Now I was seriously worried. It was a small apartment, there weren't that many places she could be.

"Annabeth!" I screamed again. I ran back into the kitchen where my mom was now standing.

"Calm down Percy, she's fine," she said.

"Where is she," I said, looking around like she might be hiding in a cupboard or something.

"She's in the bathroom, she has a stomach virus," she said. A stomach virus, not the best thing, but definitely better than a monster attack.

"Is she alright?" I asked.

"She'll be fine, but she can't go to school today," she said.

"Okay, I'll just stay here with her," I said. My mom raised an eyebrow.

"I have to go to work, you two can figure that out on your own," she said.

I went to the bathroom door. I didn't know what was going on in there, but it didn't sound pretty.

"Are you alright?" I called through the door.

"I'm fine," a weak voice replied. She certainly didn't sound fine.

"Do you need something?"

"Stay out of the bathroom," she replied. That was harder than it sounds. I didn't like hearing her in pain and not being able to do anything about it. Eventually I couldn't wait outside any longer and I opened the door. She was sitting on the floor in front of the toilet in her pajamas. Her head was leaning over the bowl and she was holding her hair behind her head. I walked over and sat on the bathtub next to her. I pulled her hair back in my hands and held it there.

"Go away Seaweed Brain. I don't want you to see me like this," she said. For someone who had been puking their guts out, she didn't look that bad. And considering I had seen her covered in sweat, blood, dirt, and worse, this really wasn't bad at all.

"Yeah, I'm definitely staying home with you today," I said. She looked up from the bowl.

"No, you are going to school. I'll be fine on my own. Besides, you're already behind in all of your classes," she protested.

"Annabeth, I can't leave you like this. What if something goes wrong?"

"Then I'll handle it on my own. Since when have I not been able to-" She didn't get to finish that thought on account of her puking into the toilet. It was strange to see her so vulnerable and helpless, considering she was probably the most independent person I knew. But she still refused to admit that she needed help, I guess it was that pride thing of hers.

"I'm sorry, but I really don't think I should leave you when you're this sick," I said. She would need someone to help her all day with just little things like eating. And if a monster attacked, she wouldn't have a chance. Unless she vomited on it and it fled because it was grossed out, which wasn't very likely.

"I'll be fine on my own," she protested again.

"I'm not leaving you," I said. Her eyes met mine.

"Fine," she said. We spent the next half hour in the bathroom while she threw-up and I held her hair back. I believe that's called teamwork.

"Feel better?" I asked. I placed a light kiss on the top of her head. It was probably a bad idea since she was sick, but I was never one for thinking about consequences.

"Not really," she said. She didn't look very well. Her face was pale and her nose was red and runny. Her hair was drenched in sweat and hanging messily around her face. Her shirt was ruffled and had bits of vomit on it.

"I think I'm going to take a shower," she said.

"Okay, I'll make you some breakfast," I said.

"No, I can't eat anything. Just go watch _Avatar_ or something," she said. I left the bathroom, but I still wasn't completely sure she'd be alright. Call me creepy, but I waited in the hallway outside the bathroom the entire time she showered. The water stopped and I heard her step out.

"Hey Percy," she called.

"Yeah," I said.

"I forgot to get clothes. Can you go grab something from my dresser?" she said.

"Sure," I said. I ran into her room to get her clothes. Annabeth's room was organized, like OCD person organized. Everything was put away and perfect except for my hoodie which was in a pile on a pillow. Apparently she slept with it…

I opened her dresser. The first drawer I opened was filled with none other than- wait for it- keep waiting- look at you still waiting- are you getting impatient?- keep waiting- bras! I flinched back at the sight of them. Annabeth liked to tease me about being afraid of them, because I kind of was. It wasn't so much afraid of them, I just felt like I was invading her privacy whenever I saw them. It was like bras were sacred or something.

If Annabeth was getting dressed she would probably want a bra. That meant I had to touch it. I very carefully picked one up by the strap and threw it on the bed. I closed that drawer and opened another one. Guess what this one had. Yep, underwear. I closed my eyes and grabbed a random pair. I had never felt so awkward in my entire life.

The other drawers were easier to handle. I found some sweatpants and a t-shirt and added them to the pile of clothes. I brought the clothes to the bathroom and slipped them through the door. A few minutes later Annabeth came out, looking better, but still looking pretty sick and miserable.

She sat down on the couch. Exhaustion got to her immediately and she slumped over and lay down. I lifted her head and put a pillow underneath it.

"Thanks," she grumbled. I sat in the armchair next to the couch. She reached for the remote and turned it. About half an episode of _Avatar_ later, she was asleep. I took note that she drooled a little, which may or may not have been because she was sick. Either way I was going to hold it against her. I watched TV for about an hour when she started to wake up. Then she tried to stand.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Getting some toast," she said. She could barely stand, I doubted walking was a very good idea.

"Nope, I've got it," I said.

"I can get my own breakfast," she said.

"Just rest, you need it," I said. She reluctantly lay back down on the couch.

"Nutella please," she said.

"Of course," I said. Next to ambrosia and nectar, Nutella was pretty much the best food ever. I popped some toast in the toaster and started searching the drawers for Nutella. I found it and spread it on the toast.

"Here you go," I said as I handed Annabeth her breakfast.

"I could have gotten it myself," she said as she sat up and took the plate. I sat down next to her.

"Why can't you just let someone help you for once?" I asked.

"I let you make my breakfast," she said. "I just don't like relying on people. I don't like thinking that I can't do something. It's my stupid fatal flaw."

"I'll always be here for you. You don't have to face every challenge yourself."

"I know," she said quietly. I put my arm around her and pulled her close.

"I'm going to get you sick," she said.

"I don't really care."

**I really liked this chapter, despite it being slightly disgusting (sorry if I made anyone queasy). I just think it's cute when Percy is trying to be all protective of Annabeth and she is just hating it. Ah, Percabeth. *Cries because she will never find love***

**Thanks for reading!**

**-Arrietta **


	34. Chapter 34

**Leo: *breathes***

**Me: *uncontrollable fangirling***

**Wow, there are a lot of questions. Now I shall answer them. **

**Q. What's AVPM?**

**A. A Very Potter Musical. It's on youtube if you want to look it up, which I suggest because it's the most hilarious thing in the world. **

**Q. Do you like One Direction?**

**A. Not really, no. (Gasp! A teenage girl who doesn't like 1D? Unheard of!)**

**Q. Do you like Reyna?**

**A. She's okay. She might be a little too formal for me. Actually she sometimes seems a little stuck-up (her official portrait definitely has a snobby expression). Overall I think she's a pretty decent character and I would like to see more of her. **

**Q. Who's on your fictional boyfriend list?**

**A. (In no particular order) Leo Valdez, Percy Jackson, Harry Potter, Prince Zuko, Flynn Rider, Hiccup, Spider-man, Zac Efron, and Charlie McDonnell. **

**Q. Will there be teen pregnancy in this story?**

**A. No. First, I am a very old-fashioned person, so it's just not going to happen. I do plan to write a future-fic about married life and their kids, so please just be patient. Also, we all know Annabeth is way too smart to let something like that happen. **

**Q. Who out of the main characters do you think might die?**

**A. Okay, it really pains me to say this, but I have a horrible feeling Leo is going to die. Why? Here's why: If anyone else in the story dies, Leo is going to find a way to blame himself. And I don't think he would be able to cope with another death that he blames himself for. If anyone else dies, Leo is going to be broken, he won't be able to hide behind his jokes anymore. So I think that Leo is going to die because Uncle Rick would rather him be in Elysium than be alive, but not really living. **

**Q. Do you think Piper is a Mary Sue?**

**A. Absolutely not. For me, a Mary Sue is someone who does not develop in the story at all and has no inner-conflict. Piper is always battling with herself, trying to choose the lesser of two evils. She also grows and changes throughout the entire story. I also think for a character to not be a Mary Sue, they have to stand for something. Piper, for me, stands for the real side of Aphrodite. Not the makeup or the fashion, but the heart of Aphrodite, love. People say that Piper is obsessed with Jason, and I'm like, "Yeah, that's the point, the girl stands for love!" And she stands up for what she believes Aphrodite is about when she takes over the cabin. And she doesn't just stand for romantic love, she also gets along with people well because of all other kinds of love. Before I discovered tumblr I loved Piper, and I didn't understand all of the hate she was getting. I think that she's awesome and I love how she rebels against what an Aphrodite girl "should" be. Okay, I could go on all day about this, but I'm sure you want to actually read the story, so I'm done. **

**Enjoy!**

Last day of school before winter break. Complete chaos. It was exam day, plus the last day of all our first term classes. Goode switched classes from first term to second term, so we would all have completely different schedules. That meant that this was my last day of class with my demon of a science teacher (it would have made sense if she was actually a monster, and I had waited many times to see if she would grow fangs or something).

It also meant I was done with Ancient Greek, my favorite class. I was a little sad about that. Our final exam was to do a presentation on a god or goddess of our choice. Needless to say I chose Athena and gave a flawless report. Percy chose Poseidon and couldn't help but put in a bit about how awesome his undersea palace was. I had a feeling the teacher was going to call his counselor sometime soon.

English was ending too, which meant we wouldn't be in Paul's class anymore. I also really liked English, because despite hardly being able to read it, Paul went easy on Percy and me a lot. He didn't make us read aloud in class like other teachers did. That was humiliating, especially for me. The teachers were always shocked when their best student had to struggle to get through a measly paragraph.

History was ending, I didn't care much for that class. The books got most of the facts wrong anyways. Seriously, they didn't even mention that George Washington was a son of Athena. It just occurred to me that George Washington is my half brother. How had that never occurred to me? That's just weird.

"Hey Wise Girl," Percy said.

"Hey," I said.

"Aren't you excited? Our plane leaves in a few hours," he said.

"You hate planes," I said.

"Yeah, but I talked to Jason and he said that neither Zeus nor Jupiter would blast me. Something about a reward for saving the world."

"What's this about saving the world?" Laura asked as she joined us.

"Nothing, we're just talking about planes," I said.

"Oh, you should really invite me next time you guys are out to save the world. It sounds like fun," she said.

"It's less fun than it sounds," Percy said.

"What, you don't like going on adventures with me?" I said.

"I prefer the quiet life. Drinking tea and stuff," he said.

"You hate tea."

"Fine. I'll save the world again as long as I get to do it with you," he said.

"I don't think I'm ever going to get used to this casually talking about saving the world business," Laura said.

"You get used to it. Maybe," I said.

"So do you guys get rewards or something? Like maybe a keychain at least?" she asked.

"Percy got offered quite the reward after the Titan War," I smirked. Percy groaned.

"Please don't make me tell this story again," he said.

"Now I have to hear it," Laura said.

"The gods made me an offer and I turned it down, that's it," Percy said.

"Tell the whole story," I chided.

"Okay, they offered to make me immortal," he said. Laura practically choked.

"Like- like a g-god?" she stuttered.

"Yep, a god," he said.

"And you turned it down?! Annabeth was right, you are an idiot!"

"It gets better," I smiled. "Tell her why you turned it down."

"I didn't accept immortality because then I would have had to leave Annabeth," he said. Laura just stared at us for a minute.

"You know… before I met you two… I didn't really believe in love. But you two… you just do the stupidest things for each other," she said. "A god… you gave up being a god to have a girlfriend… I think Tara would explode if she heard that…"

"Stop, you're starting to sound like an Aphrodite girl," I said.

"Is that a bad thing?" she asked.

"Meh," Percy said.

"What an intelligent answer," I said.

"You're the smart one, remember," he said.

"Once again, too cutesy. I'm going to leave before I barf or another hydra attacks," Laura said. She walked away towards her car. We walked to Paul's car as well. A group of girls walked by, giggling and pointing at Percy. I held his hand and sent them a _he's taken_ look. They quickly quite giggling.

**Thanks for reading!**

**-Arrietta**


	35. Chapter 35

***Stolls are Stolling (like trolling, but with the Stoll brothers. Get it? No? I should stop trying to be creative...)***

***Put a spider on Annabeth's head***

***Connor and Travis are dead now***

**Well I'm just in a morbid mood, aren't I?**

**Questions!**

**Q. Are we friends?**

**A. Everyone reading this can automatically assume we are friends.**

**Q. Have you read the ****_Divergent_**** books?**

**A. I am reading ****_Divergent_**** right now. I'm about halfway through it.**

**Q.********What do you like better, ****_Harry Potter _****or ****_Percy Jackson and the Olympians?_**

**__****A. That's like making a mother choose between her children. I cannot answer this, they are by two favorite book series. **

**Q. What's your favorite PJO book?**

**A. Out of the original, I like ****_The Battle of the Labyrinth, _****but I also really love ****_The Mark of Athena._**** You people need to stop making me choose things!**

**Q. How old are you?**

**A. I'm fourteen and a freshman in high school.**

**Okay, enjoy this chapter! **

We had just gotten off the plane at the airport in San Francisco. Mr. Chase was supposed to meet us at the gate.

"Annabeth!" Mr. Chase called when he saw us.

"Hey Dad," Annabeth said as she hugged him.

"And Percy, good to see you again," he said as he shook my hand.

"Nice to see you too," I said.

"Well, we best be going. Dinner will be ready soon," he said. We piled into his car which was fairly new. I remembered that Thalia, Grover, Zöe, and I had sort of destroyed his last car a few years ago. Even though it was for a good cause, I still felt a little guilty about it. As we drove to their house we passed the hill that had the hidden entrance to Camp Jupiter in it.

"We should visit camp sometime this week," I said.

"Wednesday?" Annabeth suggested.

"Wednesday it is," I said.

"What's on Wednesday?" Mr. Chase asked.

"We're going to visit our friends at Camp Jupiter," Annabeth said.

"There's another camp? Here?" he said.

"Yeah, but it's not really Greek, it's a Roman camp," she clarified.

"A Roman camp?" Annabeth and I spent the rest of the car-ride explaining how the gods had different forms and there were different camps. We explained how the two sides had caused many wars and we had recently made our peace this summer.

"I can't believe it. I've been teaching about the Civil War for years and I've been getting everything wrong!" he said.

"It's okay Dad, everyone gets it wrong," she said. We pulled into the driveway of the Chase residence. An Asian woman was standing in the doorway with two middle school aged boys standing on either side of her. It was kind of strange that these boys were Annabeth's brothers. Their hair was black unlike Annabeth's which was blonde. Her eyes were gray and she had a California girl complexion. These boys had brown eyes and an Asian complexion like their mother. Had I seen them on the street I wouldn't have thought for a moment that they were related. Then again I have a brother who only has one eye, so who am I to talk.

"Welcome home!" Mrs. Chase said. The twins, Bobby and Matthew, hugged Annabeth.

"Hey, do you guys remember Percy?" she said. I had met the twins once three years ago. They were only about eight at the time and hardly paid attention to me. I doubted they would recognize me.

"Nope," one of them said. I had no idea which one. Besides the different colored shirts, I had no way of telling them apart.

"Well this is Percy, my boyfriend," she said. "Percy, this is Bobby," she pointed to the one in the blue shirt, "and this is Matthew," she pointed to the one in the red shirt. Blue is Bobby, red is Matthew. I would have to remember that. They would probably change shirts in the morning… it was going to be a long week.

"Don't you mean _fiancé_," Mrs. Chase said teasingly.

"Alright, this is Percy, my fiancé," Annabeth said.

"Hello, I'm Percy," I said.

"I just said that," Annabeth said.

"I felt like saying it again," I shrugged. Annabeth rolled her eyes. We walked into the cozy living room. The twins immediately sat on the floor and began playing with Legos. Annabeth sat down with them and began to construct something really complex. I sat next to her and mindlessly started stacking the bricks. In the time it took me to get about three bricks together Annabeth had already made a miniature replica of the St. Louis Arch. A memory of falling off of said arch into the Mississippi river struck. I've noticed lately that I fall off of a lot of things. Guess I'm just a klutz like that, casually falling off national monuments.

Bobby and Matthew were building some kind of skyscraper, something even Annabeth looked impressed by. I had a feeling her nonstop architecture obsession had rubbed off on her brothers a little. I wondered what it would be like to have a mortal half-sibling. Or even a demigod half-sibling. Annabeth had lots of brothers and sisters, I only had Tyson. Poseidon had mentioned something about other children after the Titan War. I thought he might be joking, but the possibility of a brother or sister was still there.

And of course there was the possibility that my mom and Paul had a kid someday. That would be interesting. That kid would be completely mortal, but he or she would be my brother or sister. I thought that that would make my mom really happy, to have another kid, especially since I was getting older and would be moving out in a few years. And the kid would be normal, she wouldn't have to worry about it so much like she did with me. I could tell how much my mom hated all of this demigod business that made me risk my life. She would like a normal kid, one that wouldn't make her worry.

"Come on Percy, I'll show you where you'll be staying," Annabeth said, dragging me off the floor. She lead me up the staircase and into a bedroom. It had a bunk-bed and a small couch. The floor was covered in Legos and Mythomagic cards. I assumed it was the twin's room.

"Lucky you, you get to sleep on the couch and share a room with the twins," she said.

"Lucky me," I said. I had hardly put my bag down when she grabbed my hand and began pulling me again. She led me into the next room which was very pink and girly.

"Wow Wise Girl, I never pegged you for the My Little Pony lamp type…"

"Shut up, it's all the same furniture from when I was seven. I never got around to redecorating. It's not like I stay here long enough to bother anyway," she said. She sat down on the bed which had Hello Kitty sheets. The whole thing was very not Annabeth.

"I like it," I said as I picked up a stuffed unicorn. It was very pink and fluffy. I started to toss it between my hands.

"Stop hurting Uni," she said as she snatched the toy.

"Uni the Unicorn?"

"I was five!" she said. I just laughed and started looking at all the other little pink toys. They were all so opposite of the Annabeth I knew, the one who never wore pink and never seemed like the kind for dolls.

"So, what do you want to do?" I asked.

"I have a few ideas…" she smiled, leaning in for a kiss. Our lips were literally a centimeter apart when her stepmom called for dinner. We always get interrupted, it's just a fact.

One awkward family dinner later in which I was asked more questions than I care to count, Annabeth and I ended up on the couch watching a movie while her brothers sat on the floor and tried to kill each other with hairbrushes (a quality weapon choice if you ask me). I kept switching between watching the movie, watching the boys whack each other, and watching Annabeth watching either of those.

"Stop staring at me Seaweed Brain," she said without even looking away from the movie.

"I wasn't staring at you," I said. I was just getting a little bit lost in thinking about her hair and how it smelled good. And I might have been looking in her direction at that time.

"Seaweed Brain," she raised an eyebrow, still not taking her eyes of the screen.

"It's your fault, with your… hair and what not," I said. She finally turned to look at me.

"Are you really blaming my hair for your actions?" It did sound pretty ridiculous when she put it like that. I couldn't help it, she was beautiful. I kissed her before she could protest.

"Yeah, we'll blame that on your hair," I said.

"Eww," Matthew said. He and Bobby were making faces at us.

"Then leave," Annabeth said. Her brothers quickly fled the room. We were alone at last. We kissed again, and I'll just say we didn't pay much attention to the movie after that.

**Alright, I have to go make blue cupcakes for my friend. It's her half-birthday tomorrow, so I have a scheme. If you want to participate, please listen. Send a PM to WhySoSirius934 wishing her a happy half-birthday. And if you want to be extra awesome, quote Buddy the Elf. She will seriously love it. Please, I want to make it an awesome half-birthday for her because she drew me a Percabeth fanart for my birthday and I seriously owe her. **

**Thanks for reading!**

**-Arrietta**


	36. Chapter 36

**"Arrietta! What's wrong? Your intro stories have been horrible lately!" Percy says.**

**"I'm sorry, I just can't think of anything. I'm out of ideas."**

**"You should ask people to give you ideas in reviews!" Percy says. **

**"Great idea!"**

**I want to thank all of you who PMed my friend, WhySoSirius934. She was so happy that she wouldn't shut up about it all day. I also have her in almost every class. I love her, but now I have a headache. So yeah, thanks for helping me out and thanks for aiding in giving me a headache.**

**Q. Do you ever feel weird about being only 14 and a freshman?**

**A. I have so many things to feel weird about I decided to just stop caring. I follow a very Luna Lovegood-esque philosophy of not caring what other people think about me and just being myself. I've discovered that people like you better when you're being yourself, so no, I'm not really self-conscious about much. **

**Q. What are your expectations for HoH?**

**A. If I told you all my expectations we would be here all day. I'm just terrified it's going to end in another cliffhanger. **

**Q. What are you thoughts on the SoM movie?**

**A. They are still too old. They still messed up the first book's plot so badly I don't think they can fix it. Logan Lerman is still hot. Alexandria I-can't-spell-her-last-name-and-I'm-too-lazy-to-loo-it-up still doesn't capture Annabeth, even if she is blonde now. I know they have a new director and plan to follow the book, but I don't know if they can recover from that first movie. I also saw some pictures of the set in which Grover was traveling with Percy, Annabeth, and Tyson. And he certainly wasn't wearing a wedding dress. If they changed the whole plot-line again I'm going to be so mad that I will...**

**Sorry, I couldn't continue because I don't like to curse on the internet. **

**Enjoy the story!**

"Morning Sweetie," my stepmom, Alex, said as I entered the kitchen for breakfast.

"Morning," I said.

"Where's Percy?"

"Probably still asleep. He never gets up before noon if he doesn't have to," I said. It was nine, which meant I had roughly three hours alone with my family until Percy woke up. Don't get me wrong, I love my family, it's just things are still weird. You can't live away from "home" for so long and not have things be weird. I could go wake Percy up, that would make my life easier, but then he would be grumpy. Grumpy Percys (Percies? Forget it, I hate plurals) are less fun.

"Percy drools in his sleep, a lot," Bobby said as he entered the room. Yep, we're definitely related.

"Bobby, don't be rude," Alex said.

"It's true," I shrugged. Alex rolled her eyes and returned to flipping pancakes. I poked at a piece of grapefruit, but I didn't have much of an appetite.

"Does Percy love you?" Bobby asked.

"Of course, why would you ask that," I said.

"Because he talks in his sleep, and he kept saying your name," Bobby said. I laughed a little. That was exactly the kind of thing Percy would do, even if he wasn't conscious of it.

"What does that have to do with love?" I asked.

"Because Matthew talks in his sleep too, and he always talks about ice cream. And it's because he loves ice cream. So I guess Percy talks about you in his sleep because he loves you," he said. I looked at my little brother. He was a lot smarter than I gave him credit for.

Matthew entered the room, followed by a very tired and grumpy looking Percy. I had a feeling Matthew had woke him up. His hair was ruffled and his eyes were still half closed. He stumbled into a chair next to me.

"Morning Seaweed Brain," I said. He made some unintelligible mumbling noise. I took it as "Good morning".

"So do we have any plans for today?" I asked Alex.

"Your dad and I are actually going to be out all day. Will you and Percy be able to watch your brothers?" she said.

"Uh… sure," I said. Great, babysitting. I've never babysat a day in my life. My idea of being a good sister was teaching one of my younger siblings at camp how to knock someone out with a single punch or not die on the lava wall. I had a feeling neither of those would be a good activity for my little brothers.

"Annabeth, will you take us swimming at the YMCA?" Matthew asked.

"Swimming?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's an indoor pool. Please take us," he said. He and Bobby started giving me those pleading puppy-dog eyes.

"Yeah Annabeth, please," Percy joined in. I glared at him, but he just gave me the puppy eyes too. I felt like I was being ambushed by adorableness.

"Fine, we'll go swimming," I said. There was cheering among the boys. In about an hour we were heading out the door and to the YMCA.

"This is going to be awesome," Percy said.

"Percy, don't do anything… Percy-ish. Like don't make the water attack or do some kind of belly-dance. No Percy-ishness," I said.

"You can make the water attack people?!" Bobby said from the backseat.

"Yes…" Percy said cautiously.

"How come if you're both demigods, Annabeth doesn't have awesome powers like you?" Bobby asked.

"Um…" Percy said.

"They aren't powers, they're just… Percy! What in Hades do you call that?"

"Powers," he said simply. I slapped him. "Annabeth has powers. Like boring people to death with useless facts," he said.

"I hope you remember that those 'useless' facts saved your butt about a million times," I said.

"Which is why you have such awesome powers and I'm lucky to have you," he said.

"You're not getting away with it that easy," I said.

"Is that it? You just know stuff?" Bobby asked. I scanned my brain for anything that remotely resembled a power.

"I learned how to knit without being taught…" I tried. It was technically a trait from Athena.

"Percy wins," Matthew decided. I didn't even know we were having a competition. Percy put his arms up successfully as if he were actually trying to beat me.

The YMCA smelled like chlorine. Not exactly my favorite smell. The twins wasted no time and jumped into the water the minute we walked into the pool room. I wasn't really in any rush to get in the water.

"Let's go!" Percy said, pulling my hand towards the water.

"Can't we wait a minute," I said.

"What, don't you want another underwater kiss?" he smiled.

"Percy, I'm serious. Don't use your powers. There are mortals here," I said.

"Come on, the pool's practically empty," he said. It was true, the only people in the pool were my brothers and a very old lady who was doing some kind of water-aerobics. She seemed oblivious to everything and probably wouldn't notice if Percy caused a mini-hurricane (which he could do).

"Fine, we'll just swim like normal people," he said. Normal people, yeah right. Percy threw off his t-shirt and I followed by taking off my sweatpants and jacket to reveal a bikini. Percy flexed unintentionally and his bare muscles rippled.

"What are you looking at?" he teased. I wanted to punch him for catching me looking at him like that. I also wanted to punch myself for looking at him like that. Focus, he's just a Seaweed Brain. A really tanned and toned and perfect Seaweed Brain.

"Shut up," I said as I pushed him in the water. Percy stumbled and splashed into the water. I stood on the edge, smirking.

"That was a bad idea, Wise Girl," he smiled evilly. He splashed me with a tidal wave of water.

"Percy!" I shouted, soaking wet. He just laughed and kept splashing me.

"Get in the water," he said.

"Fine!" I said. The splashing ceased and I slowly put one foot into the pool. I felt a hand grab my wrist and before I knew it I was underwater with two strong arms wrapped around my waist. I was soon above the surface again, Percy standing behind me and holding me around the waist.

"Was that so bad?" he asked.

"I'm going to kill you," I said. He just hugged me tighter and pulled me underwater again. I closed my eyes, not wanting to get chlorine in them. As I thrashed in the water, I felt two familiar and salty lips press against mine. I gave in and kissed back, throwing my arms around his neck. As far as underwater kisses go, it was pretty good.

"What were you guys doing underwater for so long?" Bobby asked as we joined them at the opposite end of the pool. Percy gave me a nervous smile.

"We were… having a contest to see who could hold their breath longer," he said.

"But I thought you could breathe underwater?"

"Well I guess I won then," he said. I swear if you open his head you will find nothing but kelp.

**This chapter is so pointless but I don't even care. **

**Actually this whole story is pretty much pointless.**

**They're just in high school, that's about it. **

**I'm amazed that all you people like it as much as you do. **

**Oh well, please continue loving it and continue reviewing because it makes me smile. **

**Thanks for reading!**

**-Arrietta**


	37. Chapter 37

***Percy and Annabeth are at school***

***Every demigod (dead or alive), god, goddess, monster, mythical creature, and a few OCs that are either dating Nico or Percy's long lost sister (or both) appear***

**Percy: "Schist!"**

**I'm so bummed because I'm sick. And to make it worse its not even a school-day. And to make it even worse than that, there was a huge party tonight me and my friends were going to go to and now I can't. And we were going to try that thing where you talk to people of the opposite gender (because going to an all-girls school, that never happens), so all my friends are out flirting with boys and I'm home alone updating my fanfiction. Life is sad. But whatever, I'm eating Nutella by the spoonful so joke's on them. **

**Question Time!**

**Q. Do you know what it's like to live in Texas?**

**A. Umm... I've never been to Texas, so no. **

**Q. What character are you most like?**

**A. Rachel Elizabeth Dare. We both love art, random charity work, music none of our friends like, wear jeans covered in paint and doodles, have really big mouths, think quickly, and have a short temper. And standing up in a cafe screaming "These two aren't human!" Is totally something I would do. **

**Q. Have you read Maximum Ride?**

**A. No, but I've heard its very good and I plan to read it after I read the Divergent books (which are taking me forever, mostly because I'm preoccupied with this fanfiction).**

**Enjoy the story! I sort of tried to write angst in this chapter, but I'm almost positive I failed. Please do not shame me too much for my failure.**

I heard a weird noise, like glass breaking. Instincts kicked in, I jumped off of the little couch and pulled out Riptide. There it was, a giant hellhound standing in the bedroom, it had broken through the window. It was larger than the beds and its beady eyes were scanning the room. It slowly sniffed over Matthew's bed, smelling for demigod. I prayed a silent prayer that it would leave him alone. The monster was here for me, I had put the boys in danger. I couldn't let the monster hurt them.

"Over here," I said in a hushed voice. The massive dog turned and faced me. It was bigger than your average hellhound, and it didn't look friendly. It growled, showing off its deadly fangs. I backed away from the boys, if there was going to be a fight, I didn't want them to get in the middle of it. The hellhound slowly followed me, growling again. In his bed, Matthew began to stir. Still half-asleep, he sat up and saw the dog and me without comprehension of the situation. I put a finger to my lips, telling him to stay quiet.

"What's going on?" he said sleepily. The hellhound quickly turned and began moving towards his bed. Matthew let out a high-pitched scream. It was almost to the bed when I jumped onto the monster's back.

"Run!" I said to Matthew. He scrambled out of his bed and made his way to the door. On his way, the hellhound clawed at him and he was scratched in the arm. His shirt tore and I could see the blood coming through. "Run!" I screamed again. Despite his injury, Matthew made his way out of the door.

The hellhound was thrashing about and I felt like I was on some kind of demon-bull ride. In case you didn't know, I'm not a cowboy. I don't ride bulls in the rodeo for fun. This was not fun.

Somehow as the monster threw me around, I slashed with Riptide and left it's left leg bleeding and injured. It threw me against the wall, and I hit my head, which hurt a lot. In my confusion (and possible concussion) I saw another small figure moving about. It was Bobby, watching in horror as the hellhound limped towards me to try and finish me off.

I struggled to stand up. Thankfully the injured leg made it unable to walk well and it was moving slowly and at a strange angle. I raised riptide and stabbed the thing. It dissolved into dust just as Annabeth entered the room, wearing some very adorable pink penguin pajamas and holding a knife with murderous look on her face. It was a good look for her.

"Are you okay?" she asked, rushing to my side. Her expression softened to a very concerned one.

"I'm fine, just hit my head. Make sure your brothers are okay," I said.

"My dad's already on it, he's with Matthew in the kitchen," she said. She walked over to Bobby, who was still staring in horror at the blood and dust that covered the room.

"Are you okay?" she asked him. He nodded quickly, but I could tell he was still afraid of what he had seen. I could understand, even for a kid who knew about this stuff, seeing it in action was pretty scary.

"Come on," she said. She took his hand and led him into the kitchen where the rest of the family was gathered. I followed as well. Mr. and Mrs. Chase were fussing over Matthew and his arm. The cut wasn't that deep, but there was still a lot of blood. Matthew wasn't screaming anymore, but his expression was still painful. Bobby ran into his mother's arms and she embraced him in a hug.

"He probably needs to go to the hospital," Mr. Chase said. He lifted his son in his arms and started for the door.

"I-I'm sorry," I said. It didn't seem like enough. Matthew was hurt, Bobby was terrified, and it was all my fault. I had put this family in danger, I had caused this.

"Do you want us to come?" Annabeth asked.

"No, just stay here," he said. The four left for the hospital, leaving just Annabeth and I alone. Annabeth sat down, putting her head in her hands.

"This is my fault, I should have known something like this would happen. I shouldn't have come," I said.

"Percy, don't talk like that," Annabeth said as she looked up.

"But it's true. Did you see all of that blood? I did that. I caused it. I'm the reason he's hurt. The monster was after me. Your dad probably hates me now."

"Stop, my dad won't blame you. He knows it's just who we are. The same thing could have happened to me," she said.

"But it didn't, it attacked me. What if his arm is really damaged? What if Bobby doesn't recover from this?"

"They'll be fine. Stop blaming yourself," she pleaded. "This isn't the first monster attack they've seen. It's happened before, they'll get through it."

"I just- I don't like putting people in danger. I don't want people to get hurt because of me," I said.

"But you saved them. Percy, you saved the whole world, for gods' sake. A little hellhound scratch that you had nothing to do with doesn't make you a bad person," she said. She stood and crossed the room to stand by me. She carefully placed a hand on my shoulder. "It's going to be alright," she whispered.

"I'm sorry," I said once again. She hugged me, just hugged me. And I hugged her back. And we just stood there, waiting, and comforting each other.

**So tell me what you thought. **

**Side note: I've started writing a completely original story, as in entirely my own. I'm only on page four, but you have to start somewhere I guess. anyway, I just wanted to thank all of you reviewers for your encouragement which has seriously gotten me interested in writing. If this story ever gets anywhere, I will give everyone who follows this story a free copy (don't hold your breathe, it's still only on page four). **

**Thanks for reading!**

**-Arrietta **


	38. Chapter 38

**"Will you go penguin sledding with me?" Percy asks. **

**"What in Hades is 'penguin sledding'?" Annabeth says.**

**"Nevermind."**

**Ya, I have A:TLA on the brain, because since I was sick all weekend all I did was watch it. Sorry.**

**Pregunta tiempo!**

**Q. What's your story about?**

**A. I'm not telling.**

**Q. Do you have a youtube channel? **

**A. Yeah... I'm secretly Charlie McDonnell... Just kidding, I don't have a youtube channel. Some people have told me I would be a good youtuber, but I have no idea what my videos would be about. **

**Q. Have you read ****_The Kane Chronicles?_**

**A. I've read the first two, but I want to reread them before I read the last one because I sort of forget the entire story-line.**

**Alright, enjoy the chapter!**

"How's it going buddy?" I asked Matthew the next morning. His arm was covered in stitches, but he was alright.

"That was so awesome! Last night, Percy went all ninja on that giant dog! It was so cool! Can you show me how to do that with a sword?"

"Uh… sure," Percy said. He was still exhausted from the fight last night. On top of that he insisted on waiting up for everyone to return. I had fallen asleep on the couch at some point, but for all I know Percy might have stayed up the entire night.

"No, you are not teaching him how to use a sword," I said. Matthew with a weapon; that would be the scariest thing I'd ever faced.

"Come on Annie," he pleaded. I gave him that glare I reserved for people who called me Annie. It was debatably my scariest stare.

"No," I said. Bobby walked into the room as well. He didn't look emotionally scarred either. So far, so good.

"Annabeth, is it Wednesday?" Percy asked.

"Yes, Seaweed Brain. I'm glad you finally learned the days of the week."

"No, weren't we going to go to New Rome today?" he asked. I knew I was forgetting something. All of the excitement from last night had completely put it out of my mind.

"Yeah, I guess we were," I said.

"So… shouldn't we like… go?" he asked.

"Let me talk to my dad about it, make sure the boys are really okay," I said.

"We're fine," Bobby said.

"Yeah, you should go. Then I can have the TV all day," Matthew said. They proceeded to attack each other and fight over television rights.

In no time, Percy and I were in the car, heading for New Rome and Camp Jupiter. I had been in New Rome for an entire two hours when we had a… unplanned exit. I knew we would see Reyna and probably Jason, maybe even a certain annoying statue. Other than that, New Rome was completely foreign.

"It'll be good to see Reyna again, it's been months," I said. Despite her trying to kill me and threatening (and partially succeeding) to destroy my camp, we had made our peace (mostly) after the war. Perhaps I could even try to work on that friendship we had almost started before things started to go wrong.

"Yeah, I was going to say that, but I thought you might…" Percy trailed off.

"You thought I might what? Did you think I still had a problem with her?"

"Well it's just how she kind of tried to… never mind," he said.

"You thought I would be jealous?"

"No, what reason would you have to be jealous?" he lied. Percy Jackson could do a lot of things, but getting a lie past me was not one of them.

"I wouldn't, unless you're thinking of leaving me," I teased.

"Why would I leave the most amazing girl in the world? That's what the ring is for, remember?" he said. I'll be honest, sometimes I forgot about the ring. It had just become so normal, it was just so _right_. Percy and I were meant to be together, I was meant to wear the ring.

We arrived at the secret entrance to Camp Jupiter. I had never used it, so I was a little surprised when Percy led me to a simple maintenance door in the side of a hill. I wouldn't have believed him if there weren't two kids in a combination of street clothes and Roman armor (common demigod fashion). The kids seemed in awe of Percy and nervously opened the door. He was only here for about a week, how much of an impression could he have made? Then again he was a leader when we arrived. I realized there was probably a whole story about Percy in Camp Jupiter that I didn't know.

After the campers let us in, we had to travel down a very long tunnel. I mean it was seriously long. I thought it just might not end.

"How much longer, Seaweed Brain?"

"We're almost there," he said. A few more yards and we were standing at the edge of the camp. It was even bigger than I remembered. The last time I had seen the whole thing was from the sky, which slightly dwarfed the massive camp. Now looking at it from across the small river… it was unbelievably huge. You could fit two, maybe three, Camp Half-Bloods in this place.

"Come on, it's just across the river," Percy said excitedly. He grabbed my hand and started pulling me towards a bridge. I remembered that it was this river, The Little Tiber, that Percy had said removed his invincibility. I had mixed feeling about that. On the downside, he was more vulnerable to monsters. On the upside, I could beat him up again. Those months when I couldn't even punch him… it was tough.

Once inside the camp, I saw two familiar people walking down the small dirt road from the camp towards New Rome. One was a tall, buff guy with a black buzz-cut. The other was a younger, shorter girl with warm brown skin and wild curls. Both were wearing purple camp shirts.

"Frank! Hazel!" Percy called. The couple turned to face us. The confusion on their faces quickly turned to joy as they rushed towards us.

"Percy!" they shouted as they hugged him. It's okay, it's not like I existed or anything.

"Hey, I thought you guys were still at Camp Half-Blood?" Percy said.

"Nope, we finished the repairs, so we're back home," Hazel said. She said 'home' like it was Percy's home too. Which it wasn't. At least I hope he didn't consider this place home. Did he?

"Cool," Percy said.

"So why are you here?" Frank asked.

"We're visiting Annabeth's dad, and he lives nearby. So here we are," Percy said.

"Well we were just heading into the city, do you want to come?" Hazel said.

"That's where we were going," Percy said. Frank and Hazel began rushing off with Percy and me following behind. Hazel was going on about something that had happened the previous week, but I could hardly focus. I was taking in every detail, everything that was different from Camp Half-Blood. The way satyrs, sorry _fauns,_ acted like beggars on the side of the roads. The way the campers looked at Percy with respect and almost fear. He was just a Seaweed Brain, why were they acting like this? The only people who didn't act like a celebrity had entered the camp were Frank and Hazel.

As we approached the city-limits we met an old friend, Terminus.

"Oh, the daughter of Minerva is back," he said.

"Athena," I corrected.

"Still a scandal no matter what you call it. I can't believe that they are allowing Greeks into the city after what happened," the statue said.

"Terminus, we told you that it was a misunderstanding. They're our friends," Hazel said.

"Just leave your weapons with Julia and don't cause any trouble," he said. A little girl with pigtails came around with a basket with assorted weapons. I dropped my dagger and Percy dropped his pen in the basket. The little girl giggled.

"Hi Percy," she said.

"Hey Julia, long time, no see," he said. Was there anyone he didn't know here? Julia giggled again. I had a feeling that the six-year old had a slight crush on my boyfriend. That was cute… I guess.

"So what brings you guys into town?" Percy asked once we were inside the line.

"Senate Meeting," Frank said. That actually sounded interesting to me.

"Mind if we sit in on it?" I asked.

"Annabeth, they're really boring. And I was hoping we could get some lunch and walk around," Percy said.

"But won't all of our friends be in the meeting?" I asked. Percy pouted again.

"But they talk about boring stuff," he groaned. I glared at him. "I mean let's go!" he said.

Okay, I'll admit, the Senate Meeting was boring. We did, however, get to see all of our friends. Reyna and Jason were there, and Percy talked to some guy with blood-red lips and drinking out of a flask.

When we first entered the room there was only three people present, Jason, Reyna, and Octavian. Octavian was the first to notice us and made some disgusting groaning noise. Reyna and Jason quickly turned and saw us as well.

"Look who's here," Jason said, grinning widely. Jason, Percy, and Frank did some kind of fist-bump, guy hug. Percy tried to explain the exact science of the "guy hug" to me once, but even I couldn't exactly understand it.

"Ah, how nice for you to visit," Reyna said in her regal tone.

"Yep, we just wanted to see how things were going at Camp Jupiter," Percy said.

"Well, you must join us for our meeting. I'm sure no one will object to a former praetor to sit in," she said.

"I object! They're Greeks! They attacked the camp! And that girl has no ranking. She isn't even a member of the legion!" Octavian shouted.

"I have a name," I said.

"They are welcome," Reyna snapped.

"Just go stab some Webkinz," Percy added.

"What has Rome come to?" Octavian muttered as he stormed out of the room, probably with the intent of stabbing Webkinz.

"Sorry about that," Jason said.

"It's okay," Percy said. Percy went on to explain why we had come, etc. etc. Frank and Hazel went to find us some extra chairs. Other centurions and leaders continued to enter, each one surprised and excited to see Percy.

The meeting soon started and Reyna brought up issue after issue to discuss. None of them were terribly interesting, just things like which cohort would have which chores that month. I couldn't get over how formal the whole thing was. Everyone was wearing togas and had to be called upon to speak. Not to mention it was in an actual government building. It was so different from Camp Half-Blood where we sat around the ping-pong table eating nachos and trying to keep Travis and Katie from killing each other.

"I'm bored," Percy whispered to me as Jason and the centurion from the First Cohort argued over shower times.

"Hush," I told him.

"We could be drinking coffee and touring Rome right now," he whined.

"I want to learn more about how things work here," I said. Percy groaned and slumped back in his chair.

The meeting finally ended, and Percy was getting jumpy. Being ADHD made sitting quietly in a chair for an hour pretty difficult.

"Hey, can I ask you guys a favor?" Jason asked as he approached us.

"Sure, what is it?" I asked.

"Well, Piper's pretty bummed that we can't spend the holidays together. I was hoping you could bring this present to her when you go to camp," he said nervously. The Jason who was trying to be a good boyfriend was very different from the leader Jason we had just seen. A moment ago he had been calm and radiated power. Now he was nervous and almost shy. Boys are one of the few things I will never understand fully.

"No problem," Percy said, taking the small package from Jason. I quickly took it from Percy, knowing he would lose it in a matter of minutes. Reyna shortly came over to join us.

"Well, if you two don't mind, I'm going to give my fiancée a proper tour of New Rome," Percy said, squeezing my hand.

"Pardon, it just sounded like you said _fiancée,"_ Reyna said, looking quite shocked.

"Jason, you never told Reyna?" I asked.

"I guess it never came up…" Jason said.

"Would someone please tell me what's going on," Reyna said.

"Percy and I are engaged," I said, holding up my ring finger to show her.

"Oh… I suppose congratulations are in order then," Reyna said quite awkwardly.

"Please, Piper already tried to throw me this party at her cabin and it was a disaster. There is still some of Clarisse's hair stuck in the ceiling fan," I said. I noticed Reyna cringed slightly at the mention of Piper's name. I had assumed that she had moved on from Jason at this point, but perhaps not. I still couldn't help but feel bad for her, with Jason always switching between the camps, she was running the camp mostly on her own. It didn't leave much time for working on relationships. I knew from experience how responsibility could overcome one's own desires.

"Clarisse, is that the extremely violent girl with the boar helmet?" Reyna asked.

"Yep, she specializes in maiming and swirlies," Percy said.

"I liked her, she's a fighter," Reyna laughed. They were both daughters of war, so it made sense that they would get along.

"Come on Percy, let's go take that tour," I said, tugging on his hand. This time, I was the one desperate to leave. The Senate House was starting to bother me with all of its formalities.

"See you later!" Percy called back as we walked out the door. "Alright, what do you want to see in New Rome?" he asked me.

"I don't care. Whatever you want," I said.

"Ooh you shouldn't have said that," Percy grinned.

"What are you going to make me do?"

"To the bath house!" Percy announced, running back towards the camp. Dear gods, please help me.

**Don't even try to get me to explain that ending, I was tired and I couldn't think of anything better. When ion doubt, have something random happen!**

**Thanks for reading!**

**-Arrietta**


	39. Chapter 39

***Annabeth's computer crashes and she loses five pages of a story she's been working on***

***chaos ensues***

**So, yeah... my computer crashed. Deep breathes, Arrietta, deep breathes. **

**Question time. **

**Q. How do you think of this stuff?**

**A. I try not to think, it interferes with being nuts.**

**Q. Is Arrietta your real name.**

**A. Stalker much? As far as you need to know it is.**

**Q. Do you think Rick will pair Leo and Calypso?**

**A. Why would he pair my soul-mate with another girl?**

**Enjoy this chapter. It is completely random and makes very little sense. **

After a week with the Chases, Annabeth and I were finally back at Camp Half-Blood. And it was the usual peaceful chaos that we called home.

"Hey Percy," Travis Stoll said.

"What?"

"Hey Percy," his brother, Connor, said.

"What?"

"Guess what," Travis said.

"What?!" I asked, rather annoyed.

"Ooh, touchy eh? Yeah, I'd be pretty mad if my girlfriend had just dumped me too," he said.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Didn't you and Annabeth break up?" he asked.

"No," I said. I was trying to take a nap under the tree and I actually didn't know where Annabeth was. She said something about doing something with her siblings.

"Really? The whole camp is talking about it. I think even Chiron heard the rumor," Connor said.

"Well go tell everyone that we didn't break up," I said.

"Oh please, like anyone listens to us around here," Travis said. I grumbled and got up from under my tree. I started walking towards the Athena Cabin, the most likely place for Annabeth to be. When I knocked on the door a very angry daughter of Athena opened the door.

"What do you want, sea scum," she said.

"Uh, is Annabeth here?" I asked.

"What? It wasn't enough that you broke her heart? Get out of here, you aren't worthy to talk to her," she said, practically spitting in my face.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Can you just tell me where to find her?" I said. I guess the Stolls weren't lying, the whole camp thought we were broken up. And Cabin Six seemed to think I was a big jerk about it.

"She isn't here, but you better stay away from her!" she screamed, slamming the door in my face.

"Okay then," I said under my breath. I turned around, trying to think of another place to find her. As I walked away from the cabin, I ran into Drew.

"Oh, I can't believe the news. It's just horrible, isn't it?" Drew said, grabbing onto my shoulder. I awkwardly tried to brush her off.

"Um…" I said. Yeah, I'm deep like that.

"You and that girl are over. It's tragic. And now you're all alone," she said, grabbing onto me again. She had me in a full body hug, but I was as stiff as a board.

"Annabeth and I are still together. At least as far as I know," I said.

"What?" Drew said flatly. She released me from the hug, but she was only standing inches away. I tried not to gag on her perfume.

"Do you know where she is?" I asked.

"Uh, she's at the lava wall, getting all sweaty and disgusting. Eww," she said. I thanked her and ran away as quickly as I could. When I came to lava wall, I found Annabeth and Piper climbing near the top.

"Hey Wise Girl!" I called to the top. She didn't hear me. "ANNABETH!" I screamed. She finally looked down. I waved and beckoned her down. She finally got the message and began to climb down with Piper.

"This better be important, I was about to beat my personal record," she said once she was down. Her arms were crossed and she had that look in her eyes that said "explain or die."

"The whole camp thinks we broke up, your sister tried to kill me, and Drew tried to flirt with me," I said. I heard Annabeth mutter some unkind words about a girl, and I don't think she meant her sister.

"Wait, did you break up?" Piper asked.

"I don't think so…"

"No!" Annabeth snapped.

"So, can we like, go tell people we aren't broken up. Like especially your sister. I don't want to die," I said.

"Shut up, I'm thinking," she said. I didn't think it was that complicated; just go tell people we aren't broken up. But Annabeth always over-thought everything. At that moment Piper hit her like she had just had a breakthrough.

"Remember when you took off your ring to go swimming? And Drew asked you where it was, you joked 'I threw it out'. Remember?" she said.

"Oh gods, this is all my fault," Annabeth said, putting her head in her hands.

"It's no big deal Annabeth, we just have to go tell everyone it was a big misunderstanding," I said. She looked like she was going to punch me, but seemed to change her mind and hugged me instead.

Katie Gardener walked up to us and shrieked, "Oh thank the gods you guys are back together! I thought that the whole camp was going to fall apart or something."

"Yes, go tell everyone we are back together. Go!" I said. She ran off to find someone to tell.

"Problem solved?" I asked Annabeth.

"Problem solved," she said.

**Thanks for reading. I'll just go rewrite five pages of my story now. Yay! (note the lack of enthusiasm)**

**-Arrietta**


	40. Chapter 40

***Leo is dancing to "I'm Sexy and I Know It"***

**Leo: "Wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle yeah!"**

***Hazel sees him***

***Is scarred for life***

**Hola personas del interneto. Estoy muy feliz porque mi amiga, WhySoSirius934 es la mejor amiga en el mundo. **

**Pardon the Spanish, but I was trying to get in touch with my inner-Leo. Anyway, my friend gave me sliver owl earrings the other day and also a tray of blue cookies. Best. Friend. Ever!**

**Tiempo por preguntas!**

**Q. Do you like Austin Mahone?**

**A. I actually had to look him up... but I about twenty seconds into the video when I gave up. Nope, don't like him at all.**

**Q. Lazel or Frazel?**

**A. Frazel because I also ship Leotta (Lerietta? Arreo?)**

**Q. Have you thought about doing one major plot in this story?**

**A. I do not have that kind of patience. **

**Ahora lee mi cuanto! (Sorry again about the Spanish)**

I was walking towards the Aphrodite Cabin and trying really hard not to gag. The place had gotten better since Piper took over, but it still smelled stronger than Bath and Body Works. Anyone who wasn't used to it would pass out if he or she was in it too long.

"Annabeth!" Piper said when she opened the door.

"Yes that is my name," I said. Piper scrunched her nose.

"So what are you doing here?" she asked.

"I have this um… present for you. From Jason," I said.

"Oh, come in," she said, moving aside so I could enter the cabin. There were about four kids very focused on their reflections as they applied mascara. "They've been doing that for an hour," Piper whispered in my ear. I tried to imagine myself putting on makeup for an hour. No, that just wouldn't happen.

"So, here's the gift," I said, handing Piper the small box. She opened it quickly and pulled out a note.

"Styx!" she said.

"What?" I asked.

"It's half in Latin," she said. "I can't read Latin." I took the note, which indeed was a mixture of English and Latin. I had studied Latin, so I could make out most of it.

"_Dear Piper, I'm sorry we can't spend the holidays together, but please know that I love and miss you. I won't be able to come back to visit for another month, but remember that you are always welcome to come live with me in New Rome._

"He asked you to live in New Rome with him?"

"Um… yeah," Piper said awkwardly.

"Why didn't you say yes?"

"Because, if I leave, Drew is in charge again. I can't let this cabin go back to how it was," she said.

"You know that you can appoint whoever you want as leader," I said.

"I know, I'm just afraid Drew will get it back, or just control whoever I appoint. I'm the only one immune to her charmspeak," she said. "I want to go with Jason, but I have responsibility here, just like he has responsibility there."

Piper looked like she was about to cry. "Can you just finish the note," she said.

"_I can't wait to see you again. I know you don't really like jewelry, but I hope that this will remind you that I'm always thinking of you. Love always, Jason," _I read. Piper moved the tissue around in the box and pulled out a gold bracelet.

"That's really beautiful," I said.

"Yeah, it is," she said clasping the bracelet around her wrist.

"I'll be right back," I said. I stood and left the cabin, looking for one person in particular. Of course I ran into a different person.

"Hey sweetie," Percy said, pulling me into a hug.

"Don't call me sweetie," I said.

"Cupcake?"

"Now you sound like Hedge."

"Well I want to give you some kind of cute nickname," he pouted.

"I don't do cute, and I'm on a mission," I said.

"You're cute when you're violent," he said.

"I just told you I don't do cute," I said.

"Sorry, you're beautiful when you're violent," he said.

"Seaweed Brain, did I not just tell you I was on a mission?"

"Uh…"

"I have to find Drew," I said.

"Annabeth, I thought you were over that whole rumor thing," he said.

"No, this is about Piper," I said.

"Oh cool, can I come?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Nope," he said, linking his arm in mine. Together we walked off to find Drew. She was evidently behind the Apollo Cabin, making out with a son of Apollo.

"Pardon," I said to the kissing couple. Percy was awkwardly trying to look in the other direction, pretending not to notice. Drew and the boy continued kissing.

"Excuse me," I shouted. The boy jumped back, saw me, and sprinted. Drew looked like she wanted to kill me, but we all know who would win that fight.

"I'm sorry hon, did you want something?" she said, coating her voice with sweetness.

"Yeah, you and I need to talk," I said. She gave me a look as to continue on.

"You aren't the Aphrodite counselor anymore," I said.

"Thanks hon, I didn't know that," she said flatly.

"I mean, even if Piper leaves, it can't go back to the way it was. The new counselor would be in charge, not you. You can't be a dictator, you can't charmspeak into getting your way," I said.

"Aw sweetie, you actually think I still care about being in charge of that little place? I've moved on, I have better ways to spend my time. I actually like the way the little brat is running things, gives me more time to run off and have fun," she said.

"So you don't want to be head counselor?"

"Not even a little hon, I still don't like that the Dumpster Queen has it, but I sure don't want it," she said. "Now if you don't mind, I was in the middle of something," she stood and ran off to find the Apollo boy, or maybe a different one. I don't think it really mattered for Drew.

"That was… surprisingly easy," I said.

"I'm so confused," Percy said.

"Yep, everything's the way it should be."

**I'd sort of like to apologize for this chapter... It was my pathetic attempt to fill up a plot hole. The whole fight with Drew was pretty stupid, but I had to do it so Piper could go move to California. Once again, I'm sorry for how weird this chapter was. **

**Good-bye my lovelies!**

**Thanks for reading and leave a review!**

**-Arrietta**


	41. Chapter 41

**"Once upon a time, we were falling in love. Now we're only falling in Tartarus."**

**I guess I'm in a morbid mood again...**

**So announcement time! I converted another friend to fanfiction and you guys should check her out because she is talented and amazing and beautiful and she's my friend. So check out SmellOfRoses, she wrote a fanfic for Ella Enchanted, but if you haven't read that book it probably doesn't matter because her story hardly has anything to do with the story. So yeah, check her out and say Arrietta sent you and I'll give you a blue cookie. **

**So no questions this time. That's weird. I ate a turnip today, in case anyone was curious.**

**Enjoy the story!**

"Hey Annabeth!" I called as I saw her walk across the field. Our week at camp was coming close to an end and I felt like I had spent hardly any time with her.

"Hey," she said.

"I missed you," I said.

"I was just at archery, and we just ate breakfast together an hour ago," she said.

"I still missed you," I said. She rolled her eyes and kissed me.

"I missed you too," she said. "So did you hear Piper left for California this morning?" she said.

"Nope, is she finally going Camp Jupiter with Jason?" I asked.

"Yeah, I hope she's alright. I'm still not sure about that camp," she said.

"Camp Jupiter? It's great. You know we could still go there someday. They have a college, houses, little kids," I said. I'll admit, I thought about starting a life in New Rome a lot. Annabeth still hated the idea.

"They have all of those in the rest of the world," she said.

"They have monsters in the rest of the world too," I said.

"And we can deal with them, just like we have been," she said. I had a feeling that was the end of the conversation. She was so closed to the idea of living at another camp, I still didn't understand it.

"Come on, I want to go do something," I said.

"We are doing something," she said.

"I want to go somewhere else and do something," I said.

"Where?" she asked.

"I have a surprise for you, but you have to close your eyes," I said.

"I told you that I hate surprises," she said.

"Close them," I insisted. She closed her eyes.

"If you throw me in the lake…" she grumbled.

"Ooh, you just gave me an idea," I teased.

"Seaweed Brain!"

"I swear on the River Styx I will not throw you in the lake," I said. I didn't actually lead her anywhere spectacular, just in circles a few times so she thought we were going somewhere. We actually were just a few feet from where we started, outside my cabin.

"Okay, stay here, and no peeking," I said. I ran into my cabin and grabbed her present. I held it out in front of her and said, "Open your eyes."

"It's a… Unicorn Pillow Pet?" she said.

"Yup," I said proudly.

"Why?"

"It's… it's a present. Don't you like it?" I said. Great, I knew I should have gotten that boring book on architecture. I was about to buy it, but then I saw all these cute Pillow Pets and I had to get one. I thought that a unicorn would be more fun than a book. I guess maybe I was wrong…

"I love it," she said. She threw her arms around my neck and kissed me. When she pulled away, she picked up the unicorn. "You are such a Seaweed Brain," she laughed.

"But I'm your Seaweed Brain," I said.

"Yes you are," she laughed, and she kissed me again.

**I'm warning you now that this is not the end of the Unicorn Pillow Pet. He is sort of a tribute to Percy's Panda Pillow Pet, who will live on in my heart forever. **

**Thanks for reading and leave a review!**

**-Arrietta**


	42. Chapter 42

**Things I did today:**

**1. Read about three pages of TLT**

**2. Read on page two "my short miserable life"**

**3. Freaked out because Percy cannot have a short life because he and Annabeth have to grow old together and have a happy ending**

**4. Cried because it basically said Percy is going to die young and I can't handle that**

**5. Continued reading**

**6. Saw the word "Tartarus"**

**7. Threw book at wall**

**8. Lost ability to function **

**So yeah... reading is proven to be bad for your health according to that little study**

**Also I would like to pose a question to all of you people who are still capable of thinking: How does Hazel have a body?**

**Okay, so her body was crushed in a rock-slide. And then it was buried for years, so there is absolutely no way she is using her old body. But when Gwen died and came back she returned to her original body, but for obvious reasons Hazel can't do that. So I'm curious how she got a body. Nico brought her soul back, but did he just create a new body for her? Did he somehow find and repair her body from Alaska? It doesn't make sense how she has a physical body. So Rick Riordan has created a plot hole that I have no idea how he will fill. And if he completely doesn't address this I'm going to be pretty mad because it doesn't make sense that she has a body. **

** On that happy note, it's question time!**

**Q. How did the turnip taste?**

**A. Like a turnip...**

**Q. Do you have any siblings?**

**A. I have a brother who is sixteen. Right now he's on a date with his girlfriend (who is pretty awesome and way out of his league). So yeah, that's the story of my brother. **

**Enjoy this chapter and all of its fluffy glory!**

"How was a week at um… camp?" Laura asked. We were finally back at Goode, and we were getting our new schedules.

"Oh it was great, we got married, and…" I said.

"WHAT?!" she shouted. Every other student in the room turned to stare at her.

"I was kidding," I said.

"Oh, right, ha ha," Laura said nervously. We got our new schedules from the office lady.

"Let's see, Life Sciences and Health, sounds repulsive, Architecture Foundations… oh that's punny, Gym, no problem, and AP Calculus. What about you?"

"I have Gym with you. I hate gym," she said.

"It's so easy though," I said.

"Says the girl in perfect shape who fights monsters for fun. My third grade cousin beat me in arm wrestling last week," she said. I shrugged. Percy came stumbling towards us, holding and already crinkled schedule.

"Hey, do we have any classes together?" he asked. I took his schedule and read it.

"Life Sciences and Health," I said.

"Sweet, two classes," he said.

"That's one class Seaweed Brain."

"Oh," he said. "Well let's go, I don't want to miss the one class we have together!" he said.

The Life Sciences and Health classroom was full of disturbing diagrams and posters promoting healthy habits. The desks were arranged in pairs, so Percy and I took two next to each other near the back. It wasn't until after we sat that I noticed a note on the board saying for a boy and girl to sit in each pair. I found this interesting, as we weren't in second grade and making a girl and boy sit together wouldn't keep them from talking.

Students came in, many of them groaning unhappily at the note on the board. Girls stood in a crowd in the corner of the room, trying to determine which boy would be the best to sit by. Boys took their seats and called for girls to come sit by them. It was a like a big matchmaking game. When the teacher, a young looking woman, entered the final people still standing quickly took their seats.

"Alright, I am Ms. Burk. I see you all followed directions. Well, for the first two weeks of class, you and your partner will be 'parents' and raise a 'baby'," she said. She brought out a bin full of baby dolls. Most of the class started shouting protests.

"Calm down, it's not like it's a real marriage. Now, you will divide up your time with the baby, whether you want to switch off daily, or weekly, or whatever. Just bring the baby to class everyday and one of you take it home every night. It's only for two weeks, so get over it," she said.

"What exactly is the point of this?" A girl in the front asked.

"Good question. It will teach you the basics of childcare, and also responsibility," Ms. Burk said.

"It's just a plastic baby, how will you tell if we take care of it?" another kid asked.

"Another point I meant to bring up," she said, pulling out a smaller bin full of cheap looking video cameras, "You will take a video with the baby ever night, demonstrating some sort of parental action. Feeding, bathing, changing the diaper, putting it to sleep, something like that. It's all in this packet."

She began to pass out a stack of papers titled "The Baby Project". She also had a student pass out the babies.

"Look at that Annabeth, we're parents," Percy grinned, holding up our baby. He was holding by the head, so I wasn't having high hopes for my grade on this project.

"Don't even say that, my mom will probably kill you just for this," I laughed.

"Hey Athena! Annabeth and I have a kid! Look at our baby!" Percy called to the sky. I heard a tapping at the window.

"Holy Schist!" Percy said. At least I think he said schist, as in the rock. I don't know how he came up with that but… Anyway, there was a dark brown owl tapping at the window, a murderous look on its face. I don't even know how owls have murderous expressions, but this one did.

"I'm sorry Lady Athena; it's just a plastic baby. It's just a plastic baby," Percy said. The owl didn't move. It just stared at Percy the entire class.

"Calm down Percy," I said.

"For simplicities sake, all of your babies are girls. You can take a minute to read your packets, name the baby, and work out a schedule," Ms. Burk said.

"I guess we don't really need a schedule," I said. I began to read through the packet.

"Ariel," Percy said.

"What?"

"Emily?"

"What are you doing?"

"Naming our daughter," Percy said.

"I'm reading," I said.

"So Ariel?"

"Fine."

"You don't even care?"

"It's just a doll," I said.

"Annabeth Junior," he said.

"No. We'll go with Ariel," I said.

"I wonder if she can breathe underwater?" Percy speculated.

"She can't even breathe air."

"Your right, she's probably smart like you," Percy said. He was no longer holding the baby by the head, but instead was holding her the proper way, cradling her in his arms. It was actually pretty cute, and it would be even cuter someday when it was our real baby.

Whoa. No. I could not think about that. I could not think about Percy holding a baby, my baby, someday. I could think all day about the building I was going to design or the college I was going to go to, but not this. I didn't even know if I ever wanted to be a mother. I mean, I would basically be bringing a baby into the world to be monster bait. And I would have my career, I couldn't have a job like that and be a mother. Parenthood just wasn't my thing.

But it was Percy's thing. He always talked about the kids he wanted to have. And now, just holding a plastic baby he looked so happy. He would want kids, and I still didn't know if I did or not.

The teacher began droning on about all these things we would have to do with the baby, but I could hardly think. I just kept thinking about the future, about life with kids or without kids. The more I thought about it, the more appealing it looked. Holding a little baby in my arms. Seeing him or her go off on their first day of school. All of these scenarios came to my mind. I even found myself thinking on a biological level what the kid would look like. The chances of it being blonde vs. black haired. Gray eyes or green.

But it was all crazy. I had never wanted to be a mother. I didn't know anything about being a mother. I couldn't be a mother. And somehow I was spending the class fantasizing about it.

It was all Percy's fault. He did crazy things to my mind.

**Yay! A Percababy! It's plastic, but whatever. **

**Warning: There will be some uncontrollably fluffy Ariel chapters in the near future. Brace yourselves.**

**Thanks for reading and leave a review! (Preferably not about my turnip eating habits)**

**-Arrietta**


	43. Chapter 43

**"I love Arrietta Vistoso!" Leo shouts.**

**I swear guys, that legitimately happened. I don't make this stuff up.**

**Nothing interesting happened today so I have no weird story to tell. **

**On an unrelated note, I have decided you all have an unhealthy obsession with me eating turnips. Seriously, it's just a turnip. **

**Question time!**

**Q. What's TLT?**

**A. The Lightning Thief**

**Q. Who do you think will die?**

**A. That's a funny question. Everyone (save the gods and other immortals) will die eventually. It's just a matter of who will die young or die within the series. For all we know, right after the epilogue of Harry Potter, a bomb could have blown up Platform 9 3/4 and everyone we love could have died. A happy ending depends on where you end the story. (Like if you never read HoO, Percabeth would still be happy and not in Tartarus)**

**Q. Do you like Taylor Swift?**

**A. I liked her old songs, but I think her style has become much too influenced by the media and I don't like her new music. However, some people have said I look like her when I wear my hair down and curly. **

**Q. What's your favorite color?**

**A. Pink!**

**Well that was fun. Enjoy the story! Sorry this chapter is really short.**

"Ooh, you have some explaining to do," Jeremy said as he pulled the plastic baby out of my backpack.

"Give me Ariel," I said, grabbing the baby back.

"Percy, I knew you had problems, but this is a new low. You play with dolls and name them after Disney Princesses," he said in a disappointed tone.

"It's for Health class," I defended.

"Percy, I know you love the baby, but you don't have to hold it at lunch," Annabeth said as she sat down next to me.

"I assume that you are the mother," Jeremy said.

"Oh gods, it is just a class," Annabeth said.

"It's still pretty hilarious. I mean the only couple in school that's lasted longer than a month, and is engaged for that matter, is a couple for The Baby Project. When I was paired with Tara for that class last year, jeez, I'm surprised the baby made it out alive," Jeremy continued.

"Oh it was mostly your fault," Tara said. "He didn't do a thing except draw a mustache on it. I nearly failed because of him!"

They continued to argue while I was struck with the memory of a mustachioed baby flying across the cafeteria and hitting a lunch lady in the face last year. The whole table got detention, I'll leave it at that.

I put Ariel back in my backpack and started to eat my lunch.

"So does anyone have fun vacation stories?" Tara asked once she was done fighting with Jeremy.

"Did the lovebirds run off and get married?" Jeremy asked.

"No, we just visited Annabeth's dad," I said.

"Boring," Tara said. "So what did Percy get you for Christmas? Must have been hard to top an engagement ring."

"Oh… a Pillow Pet," Annabeth said. Jeremy erupted with laughter.

"A Pillow Pet?" Tara asked.

"Oh this is too great. Please tell me you beat him up or something for that," Jeremy said, still not trying to control his laughter.

"I liked it," Annabeth said.

"And it was the Unicorn Pillow Pet," I said. I regretted it immediately. The table erupted in another round of laughter.

"Percy, I'm sorry. You really couldn't think of anything better than a Unicorn Pillow Pet?" Jeremy asked.

"Guess my head's just too full of seaweed," I sighed.

Annabeth kissed my cheek. "I still loved it," she whispered.

"Thanks," I said.

"So what about you Laura. How was the cruise with your Grandma?" Tara asked.

"Please, don't even talk about it," she said.

"What happened?"

"Two words: Grandma, thong."

**More mental images for all of you. Please enjoy. **

**Thanks for reading and leave a review!**

**-Arrietta**


	44. Chapter 44

***Percy watching ****_the Last Airbender _****movie***

***Thinking about whether this is possibly worse than his movie***

**"At least they said my name right..." he says. **

**So if you are in the ATLA fandom you are probably aware that the movie is playing on Nick right now. I've seen the movie once and it was terrible so I'm not even going to try watching it again. However I did make the mistake of going on the ATLA tag on tumblr today... I'll just warn all of you not to check that out. It is 90% people complaining about the pronunciation of Aang's name. **

**Sorry about that mini-rant. It's question time!**

** Q. If you were an animal, what animal would you be?**

**A. I am not even kidding, more people than I can count have said I look and act like a bunny. I don't understand it, but according to society I am a bunny at heart. **

**Q. What's your favorite song?**

**A. "Yellow" by Coldplay**

**Q. Have you seen ****_Pitch Perfect?_**

**A. Aca-scuse me? Of course I have! I love that movie so much!**

**Q. Have you ever seen your grandma in a thong?**

**A. I don't even think my grandma knows what a thong is...**

**Q. What would you name your and Leo's child?**

**A. I've always wanted to name my first daughter Luna, after Luna Lovegood because she is my ultimate role-model. But if me and Leo had a kid we might name her Esperanza in honor of his mother. This is all assuming it is a girl. If it was a boy I would have no idea what to name it...**

**Q. What Divergent faction would you choose?**

**A. Amity sounds really appealing to me. I would probably do alright in Erudite too. I couldn't be Candor because I lie nonstop and Abnegation just doesn't sound fun. Now Dauntless, I'm not afraid of many things, but at the point I am in in the story the Dauntless "bravery" sounds very artificial. I don't see bravery as beating up you friend and jumping off a train. I see bravery in a much more Gryffindor way, specifically Neville Longbottom. I think bravery is standing up to that thing that scares you most in the world, but standing up because you have something you believe in and something you are fighting for. I feel like the Dauntless have a very mutilated sense of bravery from how I see it. **

**Enjoy the story!**

In Gym we had to run laps. Apparently in high school "run laps" means "walk quickly and talk to your friend". None of these people would last at camp where "run laps" means "run or that monster is going to eat you".

"So how was your architecture class?" Laura asked me as we ran. I had to seriously slow down for her. I often forgot that mortals didn't have demigod stamina.

"Tragically boring. You now when you've designed an entire city, drawing simple floor plans is just simplistic," I said.

"Yeah… I drew a picture of a castle when I was seven. That's about as far as my architectural experience goes," Laura said.

"Gather around ladies!" the gym teacher called, despite the fact that half the class was composed of boys.

"We're going to be starting off with some volleyball," the teacher said. Of course, I knew all the rules of volleyball; I had played it for years at camp. When the teacher finished she split us into teams of six and sent us to different courts. Laura and I were on the same team.

"I'm terrible at volleyball," Laura complained.

"No one's terrible at volleyball," I said.

"I still serve underhand," she said. Yeah, that was pretty bad. "I hate Gym, it's humiliating," she said.

"No one's going to make fun of you," I said.

"Tell that to the jocks," she said. As she said it some very athletic looking people came our way.

"Laura, try not to _catch_ the ball this time," one of them said.

"You and your little friend are going to be a piece of cake," another said. It just happened that these rude jocks were the people we were playing against.

"Don't worry, they've got another thing coming if they think they can beat me," I said.

"Prideful much?" Laura said.

"You have no idea," I said.

The teacher blew his whistle and the game started. I was the setter, along with a very buff guy, but I was setting now. The buff guy was serving and easily sent it over the net. The other team returned the ball and a girl on my side bumped it to me. I set the ball up, perfect for Laura to hit. Laura ran up, ready to spike the ball. She jumped, but her timing was off. She ran straight into the net and the ball hit the ground.

"Sorry Annabeth," she said. The other team was laughing at her.

"It's okay, we'll get them next time," I said.

Now the other team was serving. The girl sent the ball across straight at Laura, who bumped it and sent it haywire. There was no way I could get it, so I did what I had to. "Help!" I shouted.

The buff guy got the message, and bumped the ball back in my direction. It wasn't perfect, but I spiked the ball and it hit the ground. There was some cheering and high-fives from my team, but it quickly died down. We rotated and now Laura was serving.

"You can do this," I said.

"Yeah right," Laura said.

She began her underhand serve. It was juvenile, but it went across. The other team easily sent it back and a scrawny boy bumped it to me. I set it back to him and he sent it across. A good volley started between the teams and eventually ended with us getting the point. That meant Laura was serving again.

Laura sent it over again, ignoring the rude comments about her serving from the other team. The other team was so busy making fun of Laura that they hardly noticed when the ball landed and we scored a point.

The rest of the team congratulated Laura while the other team yelled something about how they weren't ready. Laura served a few more, but eventually we lost and it was the other team's serve.

The server sent it over, but it was too powerful and the ball went out. Our team rotated again and a girl was serving. She sent the ball across and a volley started that ended with the buff guy spiking it and getting the point. The game continued like this, and eventually I was the one serving.

I had to make this good. I aimed for my target, and it was a bull's-eye. I hit the kid who had been making fun of Laura in the face, giving him a bloody nose.

"Sorry," I shouted, seeing the blood landing on the gym floor, though I really wasn't that sorry. It was just a nosebleed, the kid would live.

"Everyone just bump with a partner, I have to take him to the nurse," the gym teacher said.

"Annabeth, did you do that on purpose?" Laura asked.

"Me? No, I would never hurt a mortal."

**Not much Percabeth, but a lot of Annabeth being awesome. **

**So I'll assume most of you know Uncle Rick is working on a Norse god series. It just so happened I had to research the Norse mythology creation story for a school project and these are my predictions for the series based on my research. **

**1. The main evil dudes are going to be the frost giants who are lead by Ymir, the head frost giant. Ymir supposedly died and his body became the earth (by the way, according to the Norse, trees are made of his chest hair), but we all know that no one really stays dead. I can really see the story paralleling HoO with the earth rising and the giants are its minions. **

**2. The main character (assuming this story is about demigods) will be a son (or daughter, a girl protagonist would be cool) of Odin, the head god. Odin has two brothers who are gods, but they weren't named in the paper I read. **

**3. The giants are held back from the wall that is made of Ymir's eyelashes. Perhaps they are escaping (maybe because he is waking and his eyes are fluttering) and the protagonist must somehow recapture the giants and put them back in prison. **

**4. We are all going to be really confused because in Norse mythology the sun was a girl and the moon was a boy. It will be difficult to adjust to the change. **

**5. This has nothing to do with a prediction, but they believed the first people were made from driftwood. **

**Okay, have fun speculating with that. **

**Thanks for reading and please leave a review!**

**-Arrietta**


	45. Chapter 45

**"Hey Annabeth! Are you made of copper and tellurium?"**

**"Percy, the human body is made of many elements. Oxygen, hydrogen-"**

**"Because you are CuTe!"**

**Chemistry jokes. Only for some. **

**Question time!**

**Q. Do you have any tips for writers?**

**A. *blushes* I'm flattered that you asked me. I would just say try to use proper grammar and stay in character. And when in doubt, have something random happen!**

**Q. Do you like the Talking Tom Cat app?**

**A. It's okay... I haven't thought much about it. **

**Q. Do you play any sports?**

**A. I have the athletic ability of a spoon. **

**Q. What character would you like to be friends with?**

**A. I would love to be best friends with Annabeth.**

**Q. Do you like Legend of Korra?**

**A. Yes, but not as much as ATLA**

**Q. Could you put the POV at the top of each chapter?**

**A. Sorry about that. I'll try my best to do that for now on. In case I forget, odd chapters are Percy, evens are Annabeth.**

**Enjoy!**

**(Percy POV)**

"Hey Mom, we're home! And we're parents!" I shouted as I entered the apartment.

"Jeez Percy, you're going to give your mom a heart attack," Paul said. He knew all about The Baby Project and had been making jokes about it the entire ride home. And they were really bad jokes too.

"What? Percy Jackson I swear if you just said what I think you said-" my mom said, coming at me with a wooden spoon.

"It's a plastic baby," I said, holding up Ariel.

"Well don't hold it by the head!" my mom scolded.

"He's been doing that all day," Annabeth said.

"I weep for my future grandchildren," Mom said.

"It's not like I would do that with a real baby," I said. Both she and Annabeth glared at me.

"Come on Seaweed Brain, we have a project to do," Annabeth said.

Once situated with Ariel in the kitchen, Annabeth took out the video camera we had been given.

"So what 'parenting activity' do you want to do first? Diaper change?" she said, reading from the packet. I was pretty sure I had already lost my copy.

"No." I said.

"Bath?"

"Preferably not."

"Feeding?"

"Sure, that sounds alright," I said.

"Here, you take the camera," she said, handing it to me. She took out the "baby food" (jar of air) and little spoon that the teacher had provided us with. I turned the camera on and started taping.

"Hello, we have the beautiful Annabeth Chase here, feeding baby Ariel Jackson," I said from behind the camera. I focused the shot on Annabeth.

"Ariel Chase-Jackson," Annabeth corrected.

"And this video has just become a feminist rally," I said.

"Shut up Percy, now we probably can't even use this," she said.

"Nah, I think we should keep it like this," I said. "Now please show us how to feed a baby."

"Okay, you take your lovely jar of… mush, and you put the spoon in it," she said.

"You put your spoon in the jar. Ladies and gentleman: the words of a true genius."

"I was just getting started!" she said. She took the spoon which had nothing on it and lifted it to the baby's mouth. "Let the baby taste a little food first, to make sure she likes it. If she likes it, put the whole spoon in her mouth," she said. She pressed the spoon to baby Ariel's mouth, but the doll tipped over and fell off the table.

"That is why babies should sit in high-chairs and you should never trust Annabeth with a spoon," I said.

"We definitely can't use this video now," Annabeth laughed.

"Are you even going to pick her up? The baby is on the ground and you just leave her there!"

Annabeth scrambled to pick up the baby. Once she had her on the table again, she attempted to feed her again, this time supporting her back. She was doing much better this time.

"Annabeth is in the zone," I whispered to the camera, trying to use a serious voice. "The baby feeding zone. It's like nothing else exists except for her and the spoon. She is one with the spoon."

"Shut up Seaweed Brain."

"Oh no, I've interrupted the baby feeding zone!" I said. Annabeth ignored me and returned to feeding the baby.

"This is incredibly boring," I said.

"Fine, you do it then," she said.

"Fine," I said. I switched off with her and started "feeding" the baby.

"Here comes the Pegasus," I said, making the spoon fly around in circles.

"Pegasus?" Annabeth asked, now from behind the camera.

"You know I hate planes," I said. I put the spoon in Ariel's mouth. Or at least I pressed it against her mouth. Being plastic, her mouth didn't open.

"Oh, look at that. Ariel just ate Blackjack. _Boss, why'd you let her do that?_" I said.

"Is that how Blackjack talks?" Annabeth laughed.

"No, he swears a lot more. I haven't met a horse that doesn't have a dirty mouth," I said.

"Percy! The teacher's going to think you have mental problems," she said.

"I mean, I don't talk to horses. Especially not magical winged horses," I said.

"Oh I'm sorry Ariel. Your daddy is completely insane," Annabeth said.

"How long do I have to do this?" I asked, holding up the spoon.

"You've only been doing it for two minutes," she said.

"That's like an hour to me," I complained.

"Fine then, burp the baby," she said.

"What?"

"Burp the baby," she repeated. I put Ariel against my shoulder and started patting her back.

"I have no idea what I'm doing," I said.

"You're doing fine," Annabeth said. "Just do that until she burps."

I turned my head away from the camera and burped. "Did you hear that? She burped, I'm done," I said.

"You are repulsive," she said. She turned the camera off.

"Ms. Burk is going to think we are absolutely mental," I said.

"That's because we are," she said.

**Percababy fluff!**

**Thanks for reading and please leave a review!**

**Okay, is it just me or is the "bold" button on this website the most frustrating thing in the world? I'm so bad with technology (obviously not a daughter of Hephaestus).**

**-Arrietta **


	46. Chapter 46

**Leo: "Hi"**

**Me: *stares* "Finally, the day I have been waiting for has arrived. This. Is. My. DESTINY!"**

**Leo: Uhhh...**

**Me: "I LOVE YOU!"**

**Leo: "I'm just going to... *runs***

**So that's pretty much how it will be when I meet my future husband. **

**Question time!**

**Wow, there are a lot.**

**Q. What's your favorite pop?**

**A. Root Beer (or blue Coke if it existed)**

**Q. What would be most valid in a zombie apocalypse? **

**a. A plastic shovel**  
**b. Niall Horan**  
**c. A macaroni necklace**  
**d. Those stupid child safety scissors that can't even cut paper.**  
**e. Lipstick**

**A. This is a good question. Niall Horan because I could trip him and the zombies would eat him while I run away.**

**Q. What's your guess for the name of the 5th book?**

**A. Percabeth Lives Happily Ever After And Leo Marries Arrietta Vistoso (such a legitimate book title)**

**Q. Who's your godly parent?**

**A. Athena**

**Q. Do you like Ed Sheeran?**

**A. I only know one of his songs, but sure.**

**Q. Who would win in an eating contest, Leo or Percy?**

**A. If the food was blue definitely Percy**

**Q. Which of the eight books do you think is the worst?**

**A. They're all so beautiful though...**

**Okay, enjoy the chapter!**

A few days later and we were sitting in Ms. Burk's class again. Each day she had a group play the video they had made from the night before. Percy and I had not gone yet.

"Chase, Jackson, you will present today," Ms. Burk said as we entered the room. Most other people's videos had been tragically boring, and almost all of them had been diaper changing.

I crossed the room to plug our little camera into the projector. I knew that this was going to be completely humiliating. Once the rest of the class was seated I pressed play and ran back to my seat next to Percy.

An image of me kneeling on the floor of Percy's bathroom appeared on the wall. Several boys in the room whistled as I was only wearing a tank top and shorts in the video. Both the teacher and I shot them death glares.

"_Is the camera running?"_ my video self asked.

_"Yes,"_ Percy said from behind the camera.

_"Well you could have told me that,"_ I said.

"_Sorry,"_ Percy's voice said.

"_Okay, I'm going to be giving Ariel a bath."_

_"Why can't I do it?" _Percy asked.

_"Percy Jackson I do not trust you with the bathtub,_" I said.

_"Wow, that was harsh,"_ video Percy said.

"_Okay, so I'm going to start by putting Ariel in the tub,"_ I said.

_"Unless she takes after me, you might want to take her clothes off first,"_ Percy said. Video me scowled at the camera. I began to undress the doll and then placed it in the bathtub. Like I said, I was clueless with babies.

"_Okay, Ariel is in the tub, and I need to get the soap,"_ I said. I left the baby floating in the water as I reached for the bottle of soap.

The me in the real world hid my head because when I reached for the soap my butt became the central focus of the shot. I looked at Percy who was hiding his head as well, but I heard him whisper "I'm sorry."

"_Annabeth, don't just leave her floating in the tub!" _Percy shouted. The camera shifted and fuzzed as Percy rushed to save the baby from the tub. Once the shot was clear again, you could see a sideways image of us. The camera was sitting on its side on the sink.

"_Sorry,_" I said. "_Maybe you should give her a bath."_ I saw myself walk forward and pick up the camera. The screen fuzzed again and when it cleared Percy was kneeling by the tub, holding Ariel in the water with one hand. With the other hand poured the soap and began to wash the baby. Unfortunately he poured way too much soap and soon the entire tub was covered in bubbles.

"_I didn't mean to do that,"_ Percy said, pulling the baby out of the tub. She was completely covered in bubbles.

"_Percy! Do something! You're going to fill the whole bathroom!"_ I said. Percy scrambled around, looking for something to stop the mountain of bubbles that was still rising. In his confusion, he tripped and fell in the bathtub, baby and all. Water splashed out the sides and bubbles flew into the air.

The class erupted in laughter at Percy's foolishness. Luckily, none of them noticed the moment when Percy was completely dry before I reminded him he was on camera. He willed himself wet again and no one noticed.

"_And that is the proper way to give a baby a bath,"_ Percy said. The screen went black.

"Well, that was interesting," Ms. Burk said. Then she asked the same question she had asked every group: "So what did you learn from this activity?"

I didn't even think. The words just came out of my mouth. "Never trust Percy with a bathtub," I said. There were a few laughs around the classroom.

"Close enough," Ms. Burk said.

**Okay, now I have some news that might devastate you all.**

**I might not be able to post again until Monday. Please, stay strong until then.**

**Okay, thanks for reading and leave a review!**

**-Arrietta **


	47. Chapter 47

**What if Leo just showed up at your house one day?**

**What if Leo showed up at your house on a unicorn?**

**What if Leo showed up on a unicorn holding an engagement ring?**

**I'd lose all ability to can.**

**Anyway... I'M BACK! Did you miss me? **

**Question time!**

**Q. Who is you favorite couple out of all of Rick Riordan's books?**

**A. Umm... Who is this fan fiction about?**

**Q. Have your grades worsened because of MoA?**

**A. I didn't study before MoA, I don't study now and I still have straight A's (and I got a B in English, but that class was really hard)**

**Q. Would you rather have Leo's or Jason's powers?**

**A. Jason's**

**Q. If you were a cactus, why?**

**A. Because the nargles made me do it.**

**Q. Are you a Swiftie or a Directioner?**

**A. How about no?**

**Q. Justin Bieber or One Direction?**

**A. C-O-L-D-P-L-A-Y**

**Q. How many languages do you speak?**

**A. English and a little Spanish. Everything else on here is Google Translate**

**Q. Is your room clean?**

**A. That's a joke, right? **

**Q. What do you have against Niall Horan?**

**A. I just don't like 1D very much. However, out of the band members I have the most respect for Niall.**

**Okay, enjoy the chapter!**

**(Percy POV)**

I was at school on a Saturday. Why? Annabeth had dragged me to this stupid "Career Day". She said it was something about planning for the future. All I knew was that I had to wake up before noon on my sleeping day.

"Do you think I should apply for an internship?" Annabeth asked.

"A what?" It sounded like she had said "spaceship", and I was highly confused.

"An internship, you know, at an architectural company. I could really use the experience," she said.

"How is getting coffee and filing papers more experience than designing an entire city for the gods?"

"Well I can't very well put that on a college application, can I?" she said.

"Annabeth, you're not going to have any problem getting into college. You already have enough stress in your life, why add an internship?"

"You're right, you are stressful," she said. Well, that backfired. I try to be nice and then BAM! Insulted.

Annabeth continued flipping through papers at the architecture table. We had been standing at this one table for the past half-hour.

"Shouldn't you be looking at jobs?" she said.

"Um…" I said.

"Percy! Don't you have any plans for the future?"

"Yes," I said.

"Like what?"

"Marrying you is a plan." She rolled her eyes, but she was still smiling and blushing.

"As great as that plan is, you still need to look at careers," she said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because you are going to need a job someday. Have you never even considered your future?"

The truth was, I tried not to think much about the future. I usually just got sad thinking about how the likeliness of that future happening was slim to none. After basically being told that you'll die at sixteen, living, then being told again that you are wanted as a sacrifice, doesn't really make thinking about careers a big deal. At most times in the past few years if you asked me what my plans for life were, I would have laughed. It seemed pretty pointless to me to make plans that I doubted I would live to fulfill.

Now that the world was at peace, I had been thinking a little more about the future. But it was never about careers. It was always about Annabeth. I daydreamed more than I would like to admit about our life together someday. A wedding, little kids, that kind of thing. Of course now I sound like a complete girl for talking like that. But really anytime I thought about the future, I just thought about Annabeth.

I guess that's another reason I proposed to her when I did. It made the daydreams just a little closer to reality. It was a symbol that we would have a chance at that future.

"Um…" I said to answer Annabeth's question.

"Maybe you could be a housewife," she said, looking me up and down as if deciding what I would look like in an apron and heels. Okay, now I had to get serious about jobs, because I don't do heels.

"How about a lawyer?" I said, pointing to the nearest table. She just stared at me and it made me uncomfortable.

"Okay, not a lawyer…" She muttered something along the lines of "Seaweed Brain" and something demeaning about lawyers.

"Sorry, I'm just not really good at anything," I shrugged. She gave me that uncomfortable stare again. And I thought the wolf stare that Lupa taught me was intimidating…

"Percy, I cannot believe you actually just said that," she said, shaking her head. Okay, I've said a lot of stupid things, but I didn't really thing my previous comment was that idiotic.

"Sorry?" I tried. She punched me. I guess I was wrong.

"You are the best sword fighter I know, you could beat anyone in this school at any sport if you felt like it, and you can control water! How could you say you aren't good at anything?" she whispered harshly.

"Yeah, but it's not like I can put that on a college application," I said, using her own words against her. She punched me again. "By the way, were those compliments I heard?" She punched me a third time. Thanks the gods I wasn't the scrawny kid I used to be, or this would really be hurting.

"How about Marine Biology?" she speculated.

"Marine Biology?"

"Fish, Percy. And Dolphins."

"I know what it means," I said. She just giggled at me.

"It makes sense," she said.

"Things never make sense in my life."

"Maybe we could change that for once." So we ended up checking out the Marine Biology table. There was a goldfish in a little bowl sitting on the table.

_Save me Lord, the one with the big teeth taps the glass! Save me Lord!_

"Don't call me Lord," I mumbled.

"Pardon?" A girl with large teeth asked. I assumed she was the table's attendant and the cause of the goldfish's fears.

"Sorry, my boyfriend likes to think he can talk to fish. Anyway, he was curious in a career in Marine Biology," Annabeth said.

"Oh, that's great. We have all these forms if you're interested in learning more about the field and all kinds of pamphlets and information on colleges," the girl said. By the end of ten minutes I had more paper than I could carry, let alone read, and Annabeth was all excited about me actually thinking about a job. We were about to leave the table when I remembered one thing.

"Hey, don't tap the glass, the fish doesn't like it," I told the girl. She scrunched her eyebrows, but shrugged it off as we walked away.

"So, are you really going to become a marine biologist? My mom might actually come slightly closer to approving of us if you were a scientist," Annabeth said on our way out of the career fair.

"I don't know, but something near the ocean would be good. I just don't know if I could go through all the school it takes," I said.

"Well what else would you do when I'm in college?" she asked. That was another good question. I couldn't just sit around all day and wait for Annabeth. And of course my mom had always wanted me to go to college, but I just didn't know if it was for me. I had no idea what the future was supposed to be like for me. All I knew was I wanted to be with Annabeth.

"I'll think about it," I said.

"You can't push this off forever," she said.

"I just need a little time to think," I said. As we left the school, my head was buzzing with all of these ideas. All of these possibilities. At the time, it seemed like I almost had control of my future. It was a strange feeling, but I liked it.

**Okay, so the reason I wasn't posting for a few days was because I was in Washington DC for the March for Life!** **It was so much fun I'm planning to write a few chapters about Percy and Annabeth taking a class field trip to DC, so you have that to look forward. **

**Random DC stories:**

**SmellOfRoses (she went with me) has a Unicorn Pillow Pet named Turnip. I swear she doesn't read this fic, it is a complete coincidence and it is awesome. **

**I tried space ice cream (as seen in ****_Titan's Curse)_**** and I thought it was delicious despite what Percy says.**

**I was talking about how horrible ****_The Last Airbender_**** movie was on the subway and a random college guy sat next to me and joined our conversation. **

**Okay, that's all for now. Thanks for reading and leave a review!**

**-Arrietta**


	48. Chapter 48

**"Hello, I'm Octavian, legacy of Apollo-"**

**"Beyonce!"**

**"Augur of New Ro-"**

**"Son of Beyonce!"**

**"Shut up or I'll kill your Pillow Pets!"**

**"Someone's a little diva..."**

**Okay, that probably only made sense if you go on tumblr. I went on the Octavian tag today... no regrets. **

**Inquisition! (No one expects the Spanish Inquisition)**

**Q. Where did you go in DC?**

**A. Umm... there was a building... and it had statues in it... AND I GOT DC CUPCAKES AS SEEN ON TV!**

**Q. Where do you get the ideas for your stories?**

**A. Most of my chapters are music inspired or an idea just pops into my head. **

**Enjoy the chapter! **

**(Annabeth POV)**

"Hello my lovely," Percy said as I joined him at the lunch table. I mentally debated whether that was sweet or just plain stupid. I decided on sweet, but it was still on the verge of stupid.

"Hey everyone," I said.

"Hey people," Nico said.

"Where the Hades did you just come from?" Percy shouted. Nico had appeared from seemingly nowhere and was casually sitting in the chair between Percy and Laura. I assumed he had just shadow traveled into our lunch room.

"Hades," Nico shrugged.

"Who's the creep?" Laura asked. She had gotten slightly used to weird things happening around us, but everyone else at the table was still shocked at his sudden appearance. Nico did look a bit creepy with his pale skin and black clothes, but he didn't seem to mind Laura's blatant insult.

"Nico," Nico said.

"Is he a…?" Laura asked. Percy nodded.

"A what?" Jeremy asked.

"My cousin," Percy said.

"And he is here because…?" Jeremy asked.

"I got bored in the Underworld," Nico shrugged again. Percy almost smacked him for that.

"He means he got bored at his house, which he nicknamed 'The Underworld'," I said. Everyone just stared at us like freaks, but hey, we were freaks.

"I'm so confused," Tara said.

"Yeah, me too," Percy said. "Seriously, what are you doing here?"

"I sensed a disturbance in the force-"

"Nico!"

"I told you, I got sick of hanging around with dead people, and I'm tired of camp, the Stolls keep bursting out with the Ghostbusters theme song every time I walk by," Nico said.

"So you came to my high school?" Percy asked.

"Yeah… I don't know a lot of people," Nico said.

"You still can't just show up at my school," Percy said.

"You just showed up at my school that one time," Nico said.

"Do you not remember the events that followed that?" Nico looked sad suddenly. It was after we showed up at his school that I disappeared. That started the quest on which his sister died. I couldn't help feel a little bad for the kid.

"I'm just going to go…" he said. Unfortunately, we just happen to smell delicious. One demigod will get you a fair amount of attacks. Two is somewhat pushing it. Three: all Hades breaks loose.

A crash from the kitchen and the high-pitched scream of a lunch lady was the first sign of trouble. The lunch ladies began to run out of the kitchen, there was another crash, and an animal cry.

"So we're going to go to the kitchen," I said quickly, already making my way to the doors with Percy and Nico closely behind me.

I drew my dagger from my waist (I always kept it tucked under my skirt), Percy uncapped Riptide, and Nico pulled his black sword out from seemingly nowhere.

The kitchen was in turmoil. Food was thrown everywhere, boxes were knocked over, and an oven fire had started. Digging through a box of smiley-face French fries was the Minotaur, looking as ugly and angry as ever.

"So we're going to fight it, right?" Nico asked.

"No we're going to ask it to pass the ketchup," I said.

"Sorry," Nico said.

"Hey cow face! Stop eating all the smiley fries! They're mine!" Percy shouted. Yep, that's the person I'm marrying.

The Minotaur turned to face us. He had a smiley fry hanging out of his mouth and another one with the eye-hole through his horn. It almost looked comical, considering it was also wearing bright white underwear, but I had to remember that I was supposed to kill it.

The monster immediately began to charge at us. Percy and I jumped to the left while Nico jumped to the right. It continued running and ran straight into the freezer. Unfortunately for him, the freezer was open and he fell in it. He climbed back out, now with ice cream sandwiches stuck to various body parts.

The monster was disoriented for a moment, and Nico used the opportunity to get a strike on it. He slashed the Minotaur's arm, but that only seemed to annoy the monster. It bellowed in rage and swung his arm at Nico. Nico flew across half the kitchen and crumpled into a corner. He let out a small moan, which let us know he was still alive.

The Minotaur was charging again, this time straight at me. Before I could even think I felt something knock into my body, but it wasn't the Minotaur; it was Percy. He had pushed me out of the way and now we were both in a pile on the ground as the monster trampled over where we were just standing.

"Seaweed Brain! I could have moved myself!" I shouted, trying to push him off from on top of me.

"Sorry, I just panicked," he said, trying to stand up.

"When are you going to learn that I can take care of myself?!"

"I know that you can, I-I just get worried okay. I don't want you to get hurt," he said.

"In case you forgot, I'm usually the one who keeps you from getting hurt," I said.

"Just another reason I love you," he said as he approached the monster, sword in hand. I really hoped he was talking to me and not the monster.

The Minotaur had run into another wall and hit its head. It was slowly coming back to its senses as Percy closed in on its left and I closed in on its right. Percy tried to stab in, but it knocked his sword away and it skidded across the room. Percy was defenseless.

I tried to get close enough to attack, but the Minotaur swiped his arm at my stomach and I went flying. My vision blurred, but I could hear Percy screaming my name and trying to find a way around the monster to get to me. _I'm fine, just fight the monster_, I thought. But of course Percy had no sense of priority and was concerned about nothing but me at the time. Man, he was an idiot sometimes.

With Nico unconscious, me incapable of moving, and Percy incapable of thinking, I thought we were all goners. That was until I saw a ketchup bottle hit the Minotaur in the head. It was, Nico. He had gotten up and chucked a ketchup bottle straight at the monster's head. I thought it wouldn't do much, but either the ketchup was either made of lead or Nico had a really great throw because the monster fell over right onto his butt.

Nico stumbled over to the monster. He seemed tired and weak, but he managed to run his sword through its chest. The Minotaur dissolved to dust and Nico collapsed into the pile of dust. In a matter of seconds I heard him snoring. I think everyone feels like taking a good nap after killing a monster.

By this time Percy had made his way over to me. "Oh gods, Annabeth. Are you okay?" he said in a frantic voice.

"I'm fine," I said, but my voice sounded weak. I hated my voice for doing that.

"I think I have some Ambrosia-"

"I'm fine, just a little bruised," I said. I had landed on my back for the most part, but my face had smashed into some cabinets. I had a feeling I would have some nasty bruises in the morning.

Percy was still staring at me expectantly, waiting for me to tell him to do something so he could take care of me like a normal boyfriend would do for his normal girlfriend (normal boyfriends helping their normal girlfriends recover from monster attacks… maybe "normal" wasn't the best word choice). Too bad for him, it wasn't going to happen.

"Go help Nico," I said.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Go!" I said. Percy slowly walked over to Nico, still glancing back at me every few seconds. I decided to try to stand up on my own. That was a bad idea. I managed to get myself up onto one knee, but when I tried to bring my other foot forward I crumbled back onto the ground. I felt so pathetic, it was humiliating.

Percy immediately rushed over and helped me stand. "Are you sure you didn't break anything?" he asked as he put my arm around his neck to support me.

"I'm fine!" I said. I knew that nothing was broken, but my back and my leg definitely hurt. I wouldn't be able to stand on my own. Slowly, Percy helped lift me to my feet. We hobbled back over to Nico, who was still sound asleep.

"What are we going to do with this kid?" Percy asked no one in particular. He helped lower me back down into a seated position. I winced in pain as my spine bent.

"That's it. I'm getting some Ambrosia. Stay here," Percy said. He rushed out of the kitchen and back into the lunch room to get his backpack and emergency Ambrosia. I tried to think of anything but the pain in my back.

About a minute later Percy came rushing in with a plastic baggie of god-food and a panicked look on his face.

"Cops, outside," he said. He tossed me the baggie which I quickly opened and took a square from.

"You mean in the school?" I asked.

"Yeah, they think that a crazed gunman or something attacked the lunch ladies."

"That's a crazy story," I said. _And a mythological creature attacking the lunch ladies isn't?_

"Well we need to get out of here. They might think we had something to do with this," he said.

"One problem: you're the only one who can walk," I pointed out. Percy immediately started shaking Nico and trying to wake him.

"Not the mustache, please. It's my prized possession," Nico mumbled. Percy shook him harder.

"What?" Nico said as he snapped awake.

"You need to shadow travel out of here. Like now," Percy said.

"Whatever," Nico said. In the blink of an eye he disappeared into the shadows and was gone.

"Let's go!" Percy said as he tried to scoop me up and carry me. He had me in his arms bridal-style when the doors barged open.

The police found the kitchen completely trashed with no one present but Percy and me. Things were looking pretty bad.

**Dunahdunahdunahdunahdunahdun ah Daaa! (It's the Jaws theme song)**

**Drama! And Nico! **

**Whatever, its late and I'm going to sleep.**

**Who am I kidding, I'm going to read fan fiction until two in the morning...**

**Thanks for reading and leave a review!**

**-Arrietta**


	49. Chapter 49

***Percy and Annabeth see ****_Warm Bodies_*******

**"Why aren't you a zombie?"**

**"Sorry?"**

**"I want a zombie boyfriend..."**

**Okay so I just saw that movie and I seriously want a zombie boyfriend. I laughed, I cried, I cheered, it was just an amazing movie. R is now on my fictional boyfriend list. **

**In other news there are no questions to answer. So now I don't know with my life. **

**Enjoy the story!**

**(Percy POV)**

I'd been to the police station a few times in my life, and I'll say it wasn't my favorite place. Annabeth was a wreck. To start she was in serious pain, no matter how hard she tried to hide it I could tell she was hurt. She was shaking the entire ride in the back of the police car and I was trying my best to comfort her, but there was only so much I could do.

To make it worse they had separated us once we got to the station. Now I was waiting in one interrogation room and she was waiting in another. I won't pretend I was being brave about this, I was scared. I thought we might be put in jail for life. Even worse than that, I thought we might be separated permanently. That was the worst scenario in my mind.

I waited rather impatiently in the interrogation room. It was exactly like the kind on those detective-cop shows with the weird light and the black table. There was a mirror on one of the walls that if TV didn't lie, was a window that someone was watching me through.

I couldn't really stand still. I kept drumming my fingers (which was slightly more difficult with the handcuffs I was wearing) and pacing around the room. I mean, between the ADHD and just being nervous it was reasonable. But to the people watching me it probably made me look either guilty or like a total nut. I didn't really want either of those.

A man walked into the room. He wore a business suit and had a bald head. He didn't really look like a mean cop that usually did these things on TV. He actually looked like he was a nice guy.

"So you're Perseus Jackson?" he asked, reading from a thick stack of papers.

"It's Percy, but yeah," I said.

"You have quite the record here. Expelled from every school you've been to all the way up to high school. Several crime reports. A nationwide manhunt when you were twelve," he read from the paper.

"Umm," was all I said.

"You do understand that things aren't looking very good for you right now, don't you?" he said.

"Yes sir," I said.

"Now, you're 'partner in crime' hardly has any records. Not even school records for most of her life. It almost seems that she just dropped of the Earth for a good five years," he said. Yeah, that was pretty close to the truth.

"Is she okay?" I asked.

"She's fine," he said. That was a huge weight off of my shoulders. At least she was okay. Now I just had to somehow convince them to let me see her again.

"So, can you tell me the story of what happened at your school? And I suggest you tell the truth, we'll be comparing it to your friend's story," he said.

"Well, the lunch ladies ran out screaming. And there was a crash. So we ran in to check it out. There was a gunman. He knocked a lot of stuff over, threw Annabeth across the room, and ran away. I didn't really see where he went, because I was making sure Annabeth was okay," I said. I prayed that Annabeth's story was at least a little similar. I had left Nico out just because it would have been even harder to explain a random kid just appearing and disappearing.

"I see. So I understand you care a lot for Annabeth," he said.

"Well she's my girlfriend…"

"Little more than that, according to Annabeth," he said, smirking to himself.

"Oh, yeah," I said. I usually didn't mention the engagement to adults just because they asked questions and judged a lot. Especially strangers. This man didn't seem to be judging, he just seemed to find it amusing.

"Is this really relevant?" I asked, because it was getting a little awkward with him asking about my personal life. Then again, this was an interrogation.

"I just want to know why you would run into the kitchen when there was obviously something dangerous there. And why you would bring someone who you obviously care about into a dangerous situation," he said.

_Because the monster was after us and we were the only ones who could stop it. Because Annabeth isn't a defenseless little girl and she can handle danger. _

"I guess we were just curious," I lied. The man seemed to accept it enough.

"Alright, I'll have to talk with some people, but you can go wait in the lobby," he said. He led me down the hallway and into a lobby with a few rough looking people sitting around. Annabeth was in the corner with my parents nervously sitting around her.

"Oh thank gods Percy! You're okay!" my mom cried as she rushed over to hug me. It was an incredibly awkward hug because I was still wearing the handcuffs and couldn't return it. She pulled away and wiped the tears from her eyes. I felt a pang of guilt for making her worry and cry.

"I'm fine, Mom," I said. She pulled herself back together and walked me over to a seat next to Annabeth.

Annabeth wasn't looking great. Her face was covered in large purple bruises. She had a black eye, a welt on her forehead, and a busted lip. I felt bad about coming out of the fight almost unscathed when she looked like that. She had about six ice-packs pressed against her back and sides.

"Are you okay?" I asked, taking her hand.

She forced a painful smile. "Never felt better," she said.

"How was your questioning?" I asked.

"Alright. They didn't believe me when I said I lived with you and there was a whole fiasco. We had to call my dad, so now my dad is freaking out about everything," she said.

"Percy, I don't think you need to worry about this. Goode won't expel either of you, I've already explained to the principal how you were just at the wrong place at the wrong time," Paul said.

"Great, now we just have to not get arrested," I said.

About an hour later the man who had questioned me came out into the lobby.

"Okay, your stories check out. You're both free to go," he said. He took out a key and unlocked both of our handcuffs. "But witnessing a shooting is a rather traumatic experience. I might suggest some counseling for the two of you."

"Pass," we said simultaneously. He looked shocked.

"But… it could really help you work out what you've seen," he said. If I could go through Tartarus without needing counseling, I definitely didn't need it for this.

"They're strong kids, they'll be fine," Paul said. The man awkwardly left the room and we were all free to go.

I helped Annabeth stand, but once she was up she insisted on walking on her own. We hobbled to the car and got into the back seat. I had no idea how long we had been at the police station, but judging from the sun it was probably about four or five in the afternoon.

"So, um… what happened at school after we left?" I asked.

"Everyone was sent home, everyone thinks you two were just victims," Paul said. That was a relief. I was considered enough of a freak, I didn't need everyone thinking I was the attacker either. And no one else at school was hurt either, that was good.

The drive home was long and silent. When we finally made it home my mom sent both of us straight to bed. It wasn't a punishment, she just knew we needed to rest. Fighting the Minotaur and being interrogated by the police can really wear you out.

**Okay now I actually do have some news. **

**For those of you with tumblrs you can now follow me at bill-the-merman on tumblr. I'll post some stuff about the story and some doodles. Also if you have a better idea for a URL I seriously could use a creative one. Okey dokey then. **

**Tomato tomato tomato. **

**Thanks for reading and leave a review!**

**-Arrietta**


	50. Chapter 50

**Okay so everyone remembers the Diet Coke scene in MoA where Percy scared of the dolphin men, right? How hilarious would it be if Coke turned that scene into a Super Bowl commercial? Can you just picture that, some Percy actor holding up the can and being like "Tremble before the power of Diet Coke!" and no one else getting it but us and we would all die laughing and buy boxes and boxes of Diet Coke. I doubt this will happen but if it does I will be happy forever.**

**Questions**

**Q. Do you like Webkinz?**

**A. Who doesn't?**

**Q. Have you seen Rise of the Guardians?**

**A. No but I really really want to because I heard it was amazing and the Jack Frost character is extremely attractive.**

**Q. When does the Norse series come out?**

**A. From what I heard it comes after HoO is done.**

**Q. What state do you live in?**

**A. The Avatar State...**

**Q. Do you like pancakes?**

**A. Yes**

**Enjoy the chapter!**

**(Annabeth POV)**

I woke up and my back was throbbing. Then I remembered a giant bull-man had thrown me across the room yesterday.

I could finally stand on my own, but everything hurt. Getting dressed took forever. I finally made it to the mirror to throw my hair in a ponytail. My face looked horrible. And this is coming from someone who gets bruised and cut a lot. I had a black eye still and my lip was swollen. The giant bruise on my cheek had faded slightly, but it was still noticeable. Basically I was more purple-and-blue than skin colored. I couldn't attempt to cover it with makeup for several reasons. First, I had no idea how to do makeup and it would probably end up looking even worse. Also, the only makeup I owned was a tube of strawberry lip gloss, which probably wouldn't help much.

I walked into the kitchen where Sally was making breakfast.

"Oh sweetie, are you okay? Do you need some Ambrosia?" she asked.

"Sure, thanks," I said. She shuffled through some cabinets and came out with the godly food. I ate a square and the pain in my back started fading. I knew that the bruises would still be there for at least another day.

Percy and I stepped out of Paul's car, ready to go to school.

"You sure you're okay?" Percy asked, squeezing my hand.

"I'm fine, a few bruises have never stopped me before," I said. Holding hands, we walked into the cafeteria together.

"Wow, and I thought she was ugly before," the Oompa Loompa said loudly to her friends as she saw us enter the cafeteria. Percy squeezed my hand, and I knew he was about to do something stupid.

"Percy, no," I said quietly.

"Annabeth, I can't just let them-"

"Percy, it doesn't even bother me," I said. I couldn't care less what some stupid girls thought of me, and I didn't want to give them the satisfaction of getting a rise out of me.

"Playing hero isn't so fun, is it? Did you seriously think that _you_ could stop a gunman?" the Oompa Loompa asked. I pretended not to hear her. She had no idea how stupid she sounded. Percy tried to step forward, but I put my hand on his chest to hold him back.

"I can't believe you're staying with that stupid girl. She looks hideous," the Oompa Loompa said. That sent Percy over the top; I couldn't hold him back any longer.

"You listen to me, Annabeth was attacked, she is covered in bruises, and she is still the most beautiful girl I have ever seen! I would never leave her for something as shallow as that! I would never leave her for anything!" Percy said, practically shouting in the girl's face. The Oompa Loompa was cringing back in fear. Percy was so mild-mannered most of the time I forgot how scary he could be when he tried.

As Percy made his way back to my side, I heard the Oompa Loompa muttering something about "crazy freaks" to her friends.

"I'm sorry I freaked out," Percy said quietly. He put his arm around my shoulders as we walked.

"It's okay," I whispered back.

"Oh look, it's our little criminals," Jeremy joked as we joined our friends at the table.

"Ha ha, Jeremy thinks he's funny," Percy said as we sat down.

"Oh Annabeth, your face is all…" Tara said quietly.

"Thanks Tara, I hadn't noticed I look like Medusa," I said slightly bitterly.

"Sorry," Tara said, shying away.

"So how was getting arrested?" Laura asked smugly.

"Not our first run-in with the cops," Percy said. Jeremy snorted.

"Okay, Percy I can believe, but Annabeth doesn't exactly look like a hardened criminal," he said.

"What? Do you think I'm a damsel in distress?" I asked. If there was one thing I hated, it was being judged on my looks.

"You've just got that… _princess_ look," Jeremy explained. I narrowed my eyes. _Princess?_ Dear gods, I hated those fairy tale girls. Always waiting around for their prince to come and save them, never having an independent thought in their heads. It sickened me.

I shrugged off Jeremy's comment. Percy started staring at me funny.

"What Seaweed Brain?"

"Just trying to decide if you would look prettier in your owl helmet or a tiara," he said dreamily.

"Let's go with the helmet," I said.

"But I could see your face better in the tiara…"

"Why does this even matter?"

"I don't know, I was just thinking," he said.

"Since when do you do that?"

"Are you ever going to come up with a new insult?"

"Why fix something that isn't broken?"

"Isn't that the whole point of architecture?"

"Architecture is about building something new."

"Like maybe a new insult…"

"What? Do you like it when I insult you?"

"It's kind of cute."

Somehow the fight transitioned to me kissing Percy and him kissing me back.

"What just happened?" Tara asked while we were still kissing.

"Behold, the great mystery of life that we call love," Jeremy said.

**Thanks for reading!**

**-Arrietta**


	51. Chapter 51

**Hi. Carrot. That is all. **

**Questions**

**Q. Jeyna or Jasper?**

**A. Currently Jasper because we have honestly no idea what Reyna and Jason's past is. I am however not a hardcore shipper and if in the future we hear some heartbreaking Jeyna story I may be open to switching. But Jasper for now because it's cute. **

**Q. What Coldplay song do you listen to the most?**

**A. Whichever one Pandora/shuffle chooses**

**Q. Do you like Finding Nemo?**

**A. YES! (I have a slight Disney obsession)**

**Q. Pancakes or waffles?**

**A. Pancakes**

**Okay enjoy the chapter!**

**(Percy POV)**

"Alright students, I hoped you enjoyed your time with the babies, but it's time to give them back," Ms. Burk said when Life Sciences and Health began.

Okay, I knew it was just a toy baby, but I had grown pretty fond of little Ariel. Making those ridiculous videos with her. Leaving her to "sleep" on Annabeth's Unicorn Pillow Pet (which we had mutually started calling 'Ricky'). Just watching Annabeth hold the little baby even if she was cursing the stupid project under her breath. I was sad to see her go.

"Percy? Are you okay?" Annabeth asked.

"What?"

"You know it's just a doll, right? We're not really giving up a kid," she said slowly.

"Yeah, I knew that," I said.

"You know it's just a project?"

"Uh-huh," I nodded.

"Okay, say good-bye to Ariel and give her back to the teacher then," she said. I did as I was told and put Ariel back in the bin at the front of the classroom.

"Bye," I said quietly to the doll. I slowly walked back to my seat next to Annabeth.

"Was that so bad?" she asked.

"Yes," I said.

"Alright, now that we have moved on from our parenting and responsibilities unit, we will be starting genetics," Ms. Burk said.

Annabeth bolted up, because apparently this interested her.

"So, with your partner, fill out several Punnett Squares to determine what a child between the two of you would look like. When you're done, fill out a description of what your child would most likely look like," Ms. Burk said. Most of the class, especially the girls, made "eww" noises at the idea of the assignment. Annabeth just smiled like this was some great joke.

"It's a scientific lesson, get over it," Ms. Burk said. She began passing out the worksheets with the instructions.

"First step- hair," Annabeth read. She looked at my head as if she had forgotten what color it was. Then she frowned.

"Look, I'm sorry I didn't brush it-"

"That's not what I meant. Your hair is black," she said, as if it were the discovery of the century. I only nodded.

"Dark hair is a dominant trait," she said.

"That means practically nothing to me," I said.

She smirked, "That means for once in your life you have the upper hand."

"I'm still so confused…"

"Gods Percy, I was just saying our kid has a better chance of having dark hair," she said.

"Really?"

"Yep, three to one, according to this," she said, holding up the Punnett Square. It was just a bunch of senseless squares and numbers to me.

"Well that's too bad, I like blonde hair," I said, twirling one of her perfect curls between my fingers. Her hair was soft and smelled like lemons. I could have just sat there, playing with her hair all day long. Unfortunately, I had that annoying thing called school.

"Next question: Chance of child having a widow's peak," Annabeth read from the paper. She pushed my hair back with her fingers to get a clear view of my forehead. Usually when she ran her fingers through my hair, it meant she wanted to kiss me. But once again, we were in school and I was nothing but half of her science project. Man, I really wanted to kiss her. She looked so cute whenever she was doing schoolwork. Her nose crinkled up when she was thinking and it was just too adorable.

"Zero chance of widow's peak," she said, writing that down on the paper. I didn't even know what a widow peak was, so I tried to check my forehead. Not the greatest plan on my part.

"Seaweed Brain, what are you doing?" Annabeth asked. I had my head tilted back and my eyes rolled back, trying to look at my forehead. I hadn't really realized how stupid I looked until Annabeth pointed it out.

"Trying to see my forehead," I said, slightly embarrassed. The look on her face assured me that she had lost any and all faith in me. She didn't even have to speak to let me know I was the biggest idiot on the planet.

"Next question: Curly, wavy or straight hair?" she said. "I have curly hair, and yours is sort of straight, sort of wavy, but we'll call it wavy for this. So curly is big 'c', big 'c', and wavy is big 'c', little 's', which means our daughter will have a half and half chance of curly or wavy hair."

I didn't understand most of it, so I commented on the one part I did understand. "What makes you so sure we'll have a daughter?" I asked.

Annabeth blushed slightly. "I was talking about in the experiment. _Not_ real life. But _if_ we did have a kid, she would be a girl."

"Why?" I asked, grinning widely.

"Because girls are superior, simple as that," she said.

"But I'm a boy," I said stupidly.

"My point exactly," she said. She returned to her paper, leaving me wondering how an idiot like me ever ended up with such an amazing and brilliant girl.

I guess I was pretty lucky.

**If the genetic stuff is inaccurate I haven't taken that since the sixth grade so please don't judge. **

**Carrot. Carrot. **

**I was bored in Algebra today so I wrote "carrot" about a hundred times in my notes.**

**I think if anyone actually read my algebra notes I would be sent to the insane asylum. **

**Okay thanks for reading and leave a review!**

**-Arrietta **


	52. Chapter 52

**Hands up if you're going to be alone on Valentine's Day. **

**So like I don't know if there are any fifteen year old semi-attractive guys reading this fic but... **

**Okay I'm just going to answer questions now. **

**Q. Who's your favorite Disney (I think you were talking about Disney but you were a bit vague) character?**

**A. Probably Rapunzel. But there are so many and I love so many of them. Definitely not Snow White, she is annoying. And do Pixar movies count? I really love Rhino from ****_Bolt_****. Rhino and I are buds. **

**Q. What are your thoughts on Percy/Zoe fics?**

**A. Well I haven't really read any. I love Zoe's character, but honestly I could never see her romantically involved with anyone. **

**Q. What's your favorite Disney movie?**

**A. Oh so many choices! Probably ****_Tangled _****just because I'm really obsessing over that right now. **

**Q. Do you put syrup on your pancakes?**

**A. Yes. (I didn't know there were people who didn't)**

**Q. Are you a feminist?**

**A. Umm... I guess I believe in women's rights and stuff but I wouldn't say I'm like a really hardcore feminist or anything. If you're asking because I had Annabeth make that comment about women being superior that was because I view Annabeth's character as being a pretty strong feminist. And like I go to an all girl's school so I sometimes forget that boys exist in real life so... **

**Q. Is your room clean or a disaster?**

**A. Complete disaster!**

**Okay Enjoy the story!**

**(Annabeth POV)**

Walks through Central Park are supposed to be romantic, right? Too bad I'm about as romantic as Prince Zuko on his date with Jin in "The Tales of Ba Sing Se". You know, all romantic, about to kiss and then "I brought you a coupon." Oh gods, I'm referencing _Avatar._ What has Percy done to me?

So Percy and I are taking a walk through central park. The scenery wasn't great. It was still early February and cold. The ground was covered in sludge. But despite all of that, our date was going pretty well. Percy was being his normal goofy self and everything was relatively normal.

Then the empousai attacked.

At first she just looked like a normal teenager. She walked around the park carrying shopping bags and chatting on her cell-phone. I didn't pay much attention to her because I was trying to enjoy some alone time with Percy. It felt like we never had time to be together, just the two of us. Between school, home, and camp, we were always being watched like fish in a bowl. It was good to just get away and spend time together for once.

"Wise Girl, have you seen the girl with the shopping bags?" Percy said suddenly and seriously.

"Percy, I think your just being paranoid. Could you just relax for once?" I said.

"Annabeth, seriously, look at her," he said. I reluctantly looked at the girl who was no surprisingly close to us. The first thing I noticed was how shockingly pretty she was. The second thing I noticed was the fact that she had fangs.

"Can we not just have one date?!" I cried to the sky. That got the she-demon's attention.

"Oh, is this a date? What's a handsome fellow like you doing with a whiny little girl like this?" the monster said, now standing dangerously close to Percy. A rush of jealousy came from nowhere. It was illogical. She was a monster with a donkey leg, and Percy was completely aware her only intention was to suck his blood, yet I was jealous. And then she called me a 'whiny little girl' I decided that the empousia was not my favorite monster.

"Yeah, I'm on a date… so if you could be, you know, _not here_. That would be great," Percy said awkwardly. He tried to back away from the girl and closer to me. The girl pressed closer to him, now placing a hand tentatively on his neck.

"Poor little hero. You know, I could make you an offer. If you let me drink your blood, I'll kiss you. And then you could escape this little brat," she said in a low tone. She ran her fingers through Percy's hair. No, that was MY hair! (Okay, technically it was on Percy's head, but it was still my property as his fiancée.)

"Tempting, but I'm going to pass," Percy said, trying once again to back away from the empousai. However, this empousai was persistent. She put her arms around Percy's neck and pulled herself closer to him. I saw Percy struggle to break away from the she-demon, but she was strong. He sent me a look that said _Help!_

I didn't even need the look. I was angry. For the first time in weeks Percy and I were alone together, and another monster showed up. A monster always showed up. Was it always going to be like this? I was suddenly struck with the image of an elderly version of Percy and myself fighting off monsters from our wheelchairs at a retirement home. That did not sound fun.

The monster was getting frighteningly close to Percy's neck when my dagger entered her back. Her grip loosened and Percy sprinted from her grasp. The girl turned to me long enough to shout some vulgar things and then dissolved into dust. I spit in the swirling dust at my feet.

"Annabeth, I'm so sorry. You know I didn't mean for her to get all over me. I'm so sorry, I deserve any punishment you give me," Percy said. He closed his eyes and his shoulders went stiff, preparing for me to punch him repeatedly.

Maybe it was for a change of pace. Maybe I was just too tired to throw a punch. Maybe love just does stupid things to your head. But I didn't punch him. I kissed him. Just the two of us. No monsters. No audience. Just Percy, me, and the empty park. And for a moment, I forgot all about the monsters. I forgot about fighting. I forgot about everything. All I could think of was Percy. And I was pretty happy with that.

When we broke away, Percy seemed more shocked than anything. "So, you're not going to hit me?"

"I could if you want me to," I challenged.

"No, kissing is good," he smiled. So I kissed him again. And I ran my fingers through his hair.

Because it was MY hair.

**I don't really know what happened there. **

**Funny how I'm so clueless I don't even know what's going on in my own story. **

**Thanks for reading! Bye! Leave a review and I'll *thinks for about ten minutes for a reward* EAT A COOKIE FOR YOU! Come on this is your chance to make me get fat, I know you want to take it. **

**-Arrietta**


	53. Chapter 53

**Guys I'm not even kidding I now have to eat 32 cookies. This isn't even funny.** **So yes, everyone who reviewed chapter 52 thank you and I will eat a cookie for you, but I might space it out over a few days.**

**I'm going to answer questions**

**Q. Why do you prefer waffles?**

**A. Don't question my life choices.**

**Q. What's your favorite kind of cookie?**

**A. Chocolate chip from the lunch room at my school.**

**Q. What's your favorite Leo quote?**

**A. "I try not to think, it interferes with being nuts."**

**Q. Do you think the Norse series will be better than PJO?**

**A. Probably not, but I'm still looking forward to it. I'm also really hoping the protagonist is a girl because although Rick has had female protagonists, the main protagonist is always male, so I'm hoping he changes that up. And as much as I love romance (as you can tell from reading my story), I hope that there isn't any romance for the main character if she is a girl, at least not for a while. It bothers me how in literature you will hardly see a girl who is not defined in someway by her relationship and it would be nice to just have a character who isn't like that. Okay I've been ranting so I'm going to shut up.**

**Q. Are you more like Annabeth or Rachel?**

**A. I relate to both of them in many ways, but overall I'm more like Rachel. However I think I would have trouble writing in Rachels' POV because even though she's a major character we don't ever get inside her head psychologically and see how she thinks which I think is very important to understanding a character. Maybe I should try her POV sometime but I don't know what the story would even be about. **

**Q. Do you have an instagram?**

**A. No.**

**Q. Do you like Leo Valdez?**

**A. *Mentally questions if this person has even been reading this story* I'M IN LOVE WITH HIM! (you can tell I am passionate about this from my use of caps lack and excessive punctuation)**

**Q. Have you read ****_Maximum Ride_****?**

**A. No but I plan to read it after I read ****_The Perks of Being a Wallflower_**** and ****_The Fault in Our Stars_**

**__****Okay I'm warning you now this chapter is filler and makes absolutely no sense. It is just Percy drabbling like there's no tomorrow because I couldn't think of an actual situation to use for this chapter. Enjoy!**

It had been a few months, and Annabeth still hadn't given me my sweatshirt back. I had given up on bugging her about it. First of all, she looked really cute in it, better than I ever did (I don't really do cute). She also seemed to smile more when she was wearing it. I liked seeing her smile. And I just liked the fact that she was wearing my sweatshirt. I don't really get it, but just something about seeing her wearing it made me happy. It didn't make sense, but it just made me happy.

Annabeth had a lot of little quirks. When she was reading, she played with her hair a lot. She would run her hands through it, twist it, or braid it absent-mindedly. I didn't think she even realized she was playing with it, she just did. Sometimes when she was reading, I would play with her hair too. Once I tried to braid it, but that ended badly (Annabeth had one particularly short lock of hair for several months). She didn't seem to even notice when I played with her hair. She was so focused on her book she didn't acknowledge my existence. But somehow I didn't mind. Just being next to her was enough.

Annabeth never did one thing at a time. Whenever I came into her room, there were three to four textbooks open, her laptop had numerous tabs open, and there was always at least one architectural design going. She did all of these things at once. I was ADHD too, but it made me more unproductive than anything. Annabeth on the other hand was ridiculously productive. I had no idea how she got so much done, but she did.

Annabeth bit her lip when she was stressed. And Annabeth was stressed a lot. In my opinion, she thought too much. Thinking brought stress (maybe one of the reasons I often try to avoid it). But one of the benefits of her thinking too much was her biting her lip. I always wanted to kiss her when she bit her lip.

She checked for her dagger constantly. Even at school, she kept it strapped around her waist. There would never be a reason for it to disappear, but she always checked for it, always ready for an attack. I couldn't help get a little sad when she checked for it. It was another reminder that we would never have a day that we didn't live in fear. There would never be a day that we would be safe. She would always have to check for her dagger.

Ever since I had given her Ricky (the Unicorn Pillow Pet), Annabeth used it as her pillow every night. Ricky was a lucky pillow.

Annabeth almost always tried to help my mom cook dinner. Annabeth almost always failed and would end up burning something. But she still went back to help every night. She was stubborn like that.

She never stayed in the bathroom when she brushed her teeth. She walked around with the toothbrush in her mouth and would sometimes end up in random places. Once I had woken up to Annabeth with bed-head and a toothbrush in her mouth standing at the edge of my bed. Another time I had walked into the bathroom and found her standing on the wall of the bathtub, brushing her teeth. Moral of the story is Annabeth could never stay put when she brushed her teeth.

Annabeth played with her engagement ring absent-mindedly. She would slide it up and down her finger or spin it in circles. She never looked at it when she did this, she just did it, like it was automatic. Like it was programmed into her.

And all of these quirks and habits reminded that I was absolutely, without a doubt, completely in love with Annabeth Chase. And I fell in love with her again and again every day. And life was pretty good.

**That was short and I feel like some of it was downright nonsensical. I really like the word "nonsensical" and plan to use it on a daily basis now. **

**Thanks for reading! I'm going to go eat cookies. **

**-Arrietta**


	54. Chapter 54

**(Esteban voice): I'M BAAAAAACK!**

**I apologize for not updating for a few days. But I made up for it because this chapter is so fluffy you might explode so enjoy it. **

**Q. Do you like carrots?**

**A. Yes.**

**Q. Do you prefer swimming in salt water or chlorine pools?**

**A. Chlorine because its what I'm used to (I live nowhere near the ocean)**

**Q. do you like snickerdoodles?**

**A. Yes.**

**Q. What music do you like besides Coldplay?**

**A. OneRepublic, Walk the Moon (local band), Mumford and Sons, Regina Spektor, A Fine Frenzy, Third Eye Blind, The Goo Goo Dolls, The Script, Train, The Fray, Elton John, The Beatles, and probably a million others but I can't have the list go on forever. **

**Q. Why do you love Leo?**

**A. I think the real question is give me a reason NOT to love Leo.**

**Q. Do you like the food at your school?**

**A. I may or may not have eaten five servings of the mac and cheese today if that answers your question. (It's Fat Tuesday, I can indulge)**

**Q. What's a weird quirk you have?**

**A. There are a lot... a very prominent one being that I draw on everything in sight. **

**Q. How many times have you read PJO?**

**A. Twice, Thrice for a few. **

**Okay now you may read the fluff.**

**(Annabeth POV)**

Valentine's day. I always hated that holiday. I was never much of a lovey-dovey person. No, please leave all of that to the Aphrodite girls. At camp the Aphrodite girls would always make valentines for everyone at camp and decorate everything with little hearts. Gods, I was thankful Percy had never had to endure a Valentine's Day at camp.

Last Valentine's Day had been pure torture. It would have been Percy and my first Valentine's Day together, but a certain goddess (demon) decided to take him away. So I spent the day searching for Percy and trying not cry at the sight of all the happy couples. That was supposed to be me. I was supposed to be spending the day with my boyfriend and being happy, but of course, things never went the way they were supposed to.

So this would really be our first Valentine's Day. It was a little weird to think that we had never actually spent a Valentine's Day just dating, and now we were engaged.

I woke up just like I normally did and got ready. I wore my hair down, just in case Percy decided he wanted to take me on a date (if he didn't he would be in trouble). When I entered the kitchen I was met with an unfamiliar sight. Percy was awake. Percy was never awake before me. Even weirder, he was at the stove, cooking.

"Who are you and what did you do with my boyfriend?" I asked sleepily. My eyes popped open when I saw what was in the pan. Pink pancakes in the shape of hearts. First of all, I was surprised that there was any food-coloring other than blue in this house. Once I got over the shock of Percy's infidelity to blue food, I came to the realization he was trying to be romantic.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" he smiled and kissed me on the nose. He then laughed when I scrunched my nose up. "You're cute when you scrunch your nose."

"Seriously, where's Percy?" I asked. Percy piled three pink and slightly deformed hearts on a plate.

"The sweetest pancakes for the sweetest girl in the world," he grinned, offering me the plate. I took it and sat down at the table. One bite and I knew that Percy had loaded them with sugar, probably to emphasize the "sweet" part. Frankly they were almost inedible, but it was a nice effort.

"So, what else do you have planned for the day?" I asked. I had been expecting us to do something along the lines of watching _Avatar, _maybe if Percy was feeling especially romantic we would watch "The Cave of Two Lovers" episode (he claims it is the most romantic love story of all time).

"You'll just have to wait and see," he said. He joined me at the table and leaned in for a kiss. Just then, I heard a click and saw a flash of light.

"Oh, so cute," Sally said quietly, standing in the doorway of the kitchen, holding a camera.

"Mom," Percy groaned. He quickly jumped away from me as if I had really bad breath (which I didn't, I had just brushed my teeth).

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it. It was so sweet," Sally said, snapping another picture.

"Mom!" Percy scolded.

"I'm done, I promise," Sally said, setting the camera down. "So any big plans for the day?" Sally asked giddily.

"Um, that's sort of our business…" Percy said uncomfortably.

"No, you should tell us," I said sternly. Percy shoved a forkful of pancake into his mouth and gagged.

"These are disgusting," he said, struggling to swallow.

"Yeah, I wasn't going to tell you, but…" I said innocently.

"So are you just not going to tell me what your plans are?" Sally asked again.

"Nope," Percy said. "But could I borrow the car tonight?" he asked shyly.

Sally narrowed her eyes. "Be home by eleven, it's still a school night. And Percy, be a gentleman," she said sternly.

"Yes mother," Percy said. We threw away the valentine pancakes and left for school.

The school was repulsive. Every wall was covered in tacky paper hearts and there was a mad rush of people sneaking valentines to their secret crushes. We entered the cafeteria, which was in even more chaos than the rest of the school. Back at our little table in the corner was an odd sight.

Sitting on the table was a massive pink teddy bear. The thing had to be at least four feet tall. Tied around its neck was a pink ribbon. As I got closer I saw that the pink ribbon had "Be Mine" written all over it.

"What is this for?" I asked.

"It's for you, silly," Percy said as he kissed me on the cheek.

"And you better appreciate it! Percy made me haul it all the way to school!" Laura said.

"Sorry, I wanted it to be a surprise for Annabeth," Percy said.

"It was a heavy surprise," Laura complained.

"Do you like it?" Percy asked.

"It's very… fluffy?" I said. Honestly I was trying to figure out how I was going to lug the bear around all day.

"That's a good observation," Laura said sarcastically.

I didn't really know what to do. I wasn't used to all of this romantic-ness. I wasn't very good at accepting gifts purely because I wasn't used to receiving them. I had no idea what the proper reaction to your boyfriend giving you a giant pink stuffed bear was.

"Come on, let's get to class. I'll carry Chubbz," Percy said.

"Chubbz?" I asked.

"With two b's and a z," he said matter-of-factly.

"When did you decide this?" I asked.

"His name is just Chubbz, don't question it," Percy said. He proceeded to pick up Chubbz and we walked off to class. Chubbz got a few weird looks.

Life Sciences and Health went by uneventfully. I couldn't really concentrate because Percy got bored and decided to draw hearts all over my hand. He was in such a romantic mood it was almost starting to creep me out.

My next class was Architecture Foundations. It was tragically easy for me, as it was a beginner class and I certainly wasn't a beginner. The teacher, a quirky older man who wore tweed jackets and glasses, seemed to adore me. Mr. Fitz was always astounded by my designs, which were always much more complex than he had asked for. One day he had told me "Your designs are worthy of the gods!" He had no idea how true that was.

It just so happened that the Oompa Loompa was in the class as well. And she sat behind me.

"Found a new boyfriend, Blondie?" she asked, gesturing to Chubbz.

"Percy gave it to me for Valentine's Day," I said flatly. I wasn't bragging, I was just stating the truth.

"Eww," she said. "You know Jake, my boyfriend, the football quarterback, he got me this bracelet." She shoved her wrist, which smelled of cheap perfume, in my face. On her wrist was a metal chain painted gold.

"That's nice," I said, returning to my drawing.

"Yeah, we've only been dating a month, but he's just the best boyfriend ever. We'll be together forever," she continued on.

"Good for you," I said without looking up.

"Don't you wish you could fine love like that?" she continued.

"Oh, I'm good," I said. The Oompa Loompa accepted that she wasn't going to get a rise out of me and returned to her work. I found it sad how the biggest disappointment of her day was not being able to make me jealous of her.

Finally it was lunch time. Before I even made it to the cafeteria, Percy stopped me.

"We aren't going in there," he said.

"But that's where the food is," I said.

"But I have a better idea," he smirked.

"But I'm hungry," I said.

"Just come on, Wise Girl," he said. I followed him against the crowd of students walking to the cafeteria as he lead me down a maze of hallways. We finally stopped in a hallway that I had never been in before, and by the looks of it, it was hardly ever used. The floors were dusty and the classrooms were abandoned.

"What is this place?" I asked.

"An old hallway, it hasn't been used in years. No one ever comes down here. No one but me," he said.

"Why do you come here?" I asked.

"I haven't come much this year, but I used to come a lot. Just to get away from all the jerks and annoying people. I came down here too calm down a lot. Maybe even to sleep a few times. It's like being away from school in school," he said.

"Okay, so why are we here?" I asked.

"I didn't feel like spending Valentine's Day in a crowded cafeteria," he shrugged. "And I brought food."

"Did you cook it?" I asked skeptically.

"It's peanut butter and jelly, even I can't mess that up," he said.

"I am very picky about my peanut butter to jelly ratios," I said. Percy sat down on the dusty floor and began to unpack sandwiches and juice-boxes. I sat next to him and leaned against his chest. He handed me a sticky sandwich and a juice-box.

"STOP! No, no, no! This isn't right! My favorite couple is not spending Valentine's Day is a dirty hallway with sandwiches!" an unpleasantly familiar voice said.

"Aphrodite?! What are you doing here?" I asked. There she was, wearing a scandalously low-cut and short hot pink dress. Her perfect makeup was all pink and her chocolate brown hair was hot pink on the ends. She was basically Elle Woods on steroids.

"It's my busiest day of the year, I have to spread the love. And there's no love better than young love! But this is not going to happen," she said. With a wave of her hand we were no longer in the school hallway. We were suddenly in an elegant restaurant with candlelight and extravagant food. Soft music played from somewhere in the darkness.

"Too cliché," Aphrodite said. With another wave of her hand we were on a snowy mountaintop. The wind was wicked and I was freezing. I definitely would have rather been in the school hallway than here.

"Ew, it's cold," she said. She waved her hand and we were on a tropical beach. The sand was pure white and the water was clear blue. A warm breeze surrounded me and I realized I was no longer in my Goode uniform. Instead I was wearing a tiny bikini and a translucent white sundress. I quickly crossed my arms over my chest in embarrassment. I noticed my face felt oddly constricted. To my horror I realized I was wearing makeup. I hadn't worn makeup since Circe's Island, years ago. My face felt tight and I worried I would look like a complete clown (an irrational fear considering it was magic makeup).

"Oh, this is perfect! I'll give you two some _alone time,"_ Aphrodite said giddily. Just like that she disappeared, leaving in her place a romantic picnic setup.

"But I'll be late for Gym!" I shouted. It was hopeless, she was already gone. I turned to Percy.

"You don't have a shirt on," I said blankly.

"Touché," he said. I crossed my arms even tighter around my pathetic excuse for a swimsuit top.

"I would much rather be in the school hallway," I grumbled.

"Loosen up, this is way better than anything I had planned," he said.

"I'm wearing makeup," I complained.

"It looks really good," Percy said in a feeble attempt to make me feel better.

"Shut up," I said.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm going to go swimming," he said. Without another word he ran off and disappeared in the waves.

"At least wait for me!" I shouted as I ran after him. I dove into the surf, hoping to catch Percy, and possibly hoping the makeup would come off (note: magic makeup does not come off with water).

I forgot all about trying to cover myself when I jumped in the water. Percy was grinning like a madman, staring at the coral reefs. The coral was hundreds of glittering colors and the fish were even more amazing. There were so many odd looking fish that I didn't even know existed. I was so awestruck I forgot I couldn't breathe underwater. Luckily, Percy remembered.

"Thanks," I said, gasping for breath in the bubble he had created. I hadn't realized I couldn't breathe until he made the bubble and my body screamed "Air! Breathe that stuff, we like it!"

"No problem. Wouldn't want you to drown," he said.

"Yeah, then you wouldn't have a date tonight," I teased.

"I could so find another date," he said. "I already got about fifty valentines today."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "And who were these from?"

"I don't know, they were all anonymous," he shrugged. Then he put his arm around me and we leaned back into the bubble. "Don't worry, you're the only girl I'll ever need. And maybe my mom to cook for us…"

"Yeah, I have a feeling we'll be eating a lot of take-out in the future," I said.

Percy laughed. "It's okay, I like Chinese food."

We relaxed in the bubble and shared a few kisses. Percy kept naming all of the fish, yet seemed to have no idea how he knew the names. I decided he was going to become a Marine Biologist whether he liked it or not.

I had no idea how long we had been underwater. Minutes? Hours? Forever? Time seemed to stop. But I didn't want the moment to end. It was so comfortable with the cool water against my back and being pressed against Percy's warm body. I found myself almost drifting off to sleep when…

Bam! I fell on top of Percy back in the school hallway that I had almost forgotten we had been in before.

"Geez, you're heavier than you look," he complained as I lay on his chest.

"Wow, that's a romantic thing to say," I said.

"I mean, you're beautiful," he said. "Now please get off of me." I climbed off of him and stood up, brushing the dust of my rematerialized uniform skirt.

"I guess our time is up," I said as I helped him up. Right on cue, the warning bell rang, signaling we had five minutes to get to class.

"Don't worry, we can continue our date after school," he said. He gave me a quick peck on the lips and ran off. I sadly made my way to Gym class.

"So where were you during lunch?" Laura asked as we ran laps around the gym.

"Tropical coral reef," I said casually. Laura's eye nearly popped out of her head. "It's a long story.

**Okay I'll leave you all to mourning in your forever aloneness on Valentine's Day. Just remember that the internet will always love you.**

**Thanks for reading!**

**-Arrietta**


	55. Chapter 55

**Happy Valentine's Day. Just so you know I have a cold so my date was a box of tissues and some NyQuil. Party Hard.**

**Q&A**

**Q. Do you like pickles?**

**A. Yes**

**Q. What's the best fan fiction you've read?**

**A. High School Mythical (which never updates by the way) or Percabeth Drabbles and Fluff**

**Q. If you were to have a super power what would it be?**

**A- Laser vision**

**B- Super speed**

**C- Mind reading**

**D- The power that green lantern has**

**A. Mind reading because I'm such a snoop and I would read Riordan's mind and find out the ending to HoO**

**Q. What are your ATLA and PJO/HoO ships?**

**A. PJO/HOO is mostly canon but with Thaluke (which totally would have happened if Thalia wasn't a tree). For ATLA I hardly ship anything canon. I like Taang (Toph+Aang) and Zutara (Zuko+Katara). I am entirely convinced that the elderly Zuko and Katara are going to get together in LoK just to please all of the fangirls. (I also have a theory that Lynn (Sorry if I spelled that wrong) is Toph and Aang's illegitimate child and that's why Tenzin and Lynn had to break up because they found out. Okay that's not really a legitimate theory but it's fun to dream.)**

**Q. Do you like bunnies?**

**A. The bunny is my patronus/spirit animal. I am one with the bunny. **

**More Valentine's Day. Not quite as fluffy.**

**(Percy POV)**

"Wow," I said stupidly. I couldn't think of anything else to say. I felt like such an idiot, just standing there and staring at her. I felt even stupider when I felt a trickle of drool go down my chin. She was just so-so wow.

"Stop drooling, Seaweed Brain," she said. She walked over to me and wiped the drool with her thumb. Her hand smelled like perfume. Not the overbearing perfume the Aphrodite Cabin wore, but subtle, sweet perfume. And it was driving me crazy.

Everything about her was perfect. She wore the same gray dress she wore to the school dance and it looked amazing. The magic makeup had disappeared and somehow she looked even more beautiful without it. I felt ridiculously inadequate standing next to her.

"Are we going to go or are you just going to stare at me for a few hours?" she asked.

"Right," I said. I offered her my arm and she linked hers around mine. We walked off to our hopefully not completely lame date.

"Percy, you seriously need to stop staring at me. It's creepy," Annabeth said when we got in the car. I hadn't even realized I was staring at her. I had just gotten lost in her hair. And her lips. And her eyes…

"Sorry," I said. She laughed at me and leaned back in her chair. Even though I wished we could just sit in the car and kiss for a few hours, I had a feeling Annabeth actually expected me to take her somewhere. Not to mention I already had reservations.

"So are you going to tell me where we're going?" she asked.

"When are you going to learn the meaning of surprise?"

"When are you going to learn I hate surprises?" she retorted.

"You forgot that I don't learn," I said.

"How could I forget that your head is the equivalent of kelp?"

"I'm just unforgettable I guess," I joked.

"Well we both know I am," she said proudly. It was true. I had forgotten myself, but I couldn't forget her. I could never forget Annabeth, and I never wanted her to be just a memory. If she was gone… I couldn't even think of that.

"Hey Annabeth… what did you do when I disappeared for all that time?" I asked slowly.

"Percy, I've told you this before. I searched for you every waking minute," she said, like even the memory was hurting her.

"I know, but I just feel so bad about it. I feel like I hurt you. I was asleep for most of the time, but when I was awake, your memory was the only thing that kept me going. I was searching for you around every corner, but I didn't even know what I was looking for. Just thinking you might be around the next corner, or in the next city, or anywhere, that's the only thing that kept me alive. I guess what I'm asking is- Did you ever lose hope? Did you think I was dead? Did you think about maybe moving on with your life?" I said. I hadn't meant to say so much, but once I started I couldn't stop. There was so much to say and I felt like there would never be enough time to say it all.

"No, I didn't. I won't say I wasn't afraid, that would be such a lie. I was scared every day that you had gotten into trouble of some kind. I was afraid you wouldn't remember me. I was afraid you wouldn't be the person I knew. But I never lost faith in you," she said.

"I don't ever want to put you through something like that again," I said.

"It wasn't your fault," she said sadly

"I still don't want you to be scared. I just want to make you happy," I said.

"Well, I guess you have your whole life to make it up to me," she said smugly.

"You mean _our_ whole life. You better not forget we're in this together," I said.

We pulled into the restaurant parking lot. It was a really fancy restaurant with a valet, but I didn't have any extra money to spend. I had already been saving up for this for months; there was no budget for using the valet.

The car doors didn't even open when there was a crash on the hood. Four hooves anxiously pounded on the front of the car.

"Freaking bird-horse!" Leo shouted as he fell off and face-planted the pavement. I bitterly remembered a similar situation happening over a year ago. At the time it had been Rachel in the passenger seat and a different son of Hephaestus had been riding the Pegasus. I decided to keep the memory to myself.

"Stop whining," another voice, Nico, said.

"Dude, not all of us can just pop into places. And I don't do well with animals!" Leo shouted.

A whinny came from the Pegasus. _His butt burned my wing! And can I get a donut?_

"Not now, Blackjack!" I shouted. I looked at Annabeth who was giving me the death glare, as if this were _my_ fault.

"So much for a romantic evening," she grumbled as she opened the car door and climbed out. I did the same.

"Whoa, Annabeth looks like a girl!" Leo said in awe.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Annabeth snapped.

"Hey, it's not my fault you dress like a twelve-year-old boy," Leo said.

"I do not dress like a twelve-year-old boy," she muttered.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked. "We're sort of on a date."

"Oh, I see how it is," Leo said. He raised an eyebrow suggestively. I thumped him in the head.

"Yeah, we have a slight problem," Nico said.

"By slight, we mean a really, really big problem," Leo clarified.

"What did you do?" Annabeth asked.

"Why do you automatically assume it was me?" Leo asked.

"Whenever there's trouble, it's one of you two. And both of you are here and there's trouble," she clarified.

"Okay, it's not that bad. We were just spending the night in the city-"

"Um, is there something you two haven't been telling us?" I asked.

"Not like that! We were trying to find dates. Anyway, we may have accidently released a hoard of automatons in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. What can I say? We were trying to impress some girls and things got out of hand," Leo said.

"So now you want us to swoop in and fix it?" Annabeth asked, extremely annoyed and probably angry too.

"Well, that's what you guys do," Nico said. Annabeth was clenching her fists and I put my arm around her, just in case she decided she wanted to kill some people.

"Can we make this quick, we have a reservation for seven," I said.

"Sweet, we have an hour," Leo said. "We just have to get across the city, stop some crazed machines from destroying priceless artifacts and artwork, and maybe get some Starbucks on the way."

"We'll meet you at the museum. Not Starbucks, no donuts," I said. The last part was directed at Blackjack, who whinnied unkind words in protest.

Annabeth and I climbed back into the car and followed Leo and Blackjack. Nico disappeared into the shadows.

"I cannot believe this! This happens every time! I just wanted our first Valentine's Day together to be special, but instead we're out fighting monsters with Leo and Nico," Annabeth said. Her face was red with anger.

"Hey, it's not that bad. We got to spend our lunch break underwater. And we're still spending it together, even if we are going to have to fight," I said, trying (and failing) to comfort her.

"But I'm so tired of fighting. I'm so tired of all of this," she said. I understood. Even if the wars were over, we would never escape being demigods. We would always be fighting, we would never be normal.

I could have ranted about how this was just one stupid day out of the year. I could tell her we could try again another time, but I didn't. Because I knew exactly how she felt. I was pretty angry at the world too. I wanted to have a normal Valentine's Day and be normal and just be with Annabeth. But that wasn't who we were. Being a demigod had a few perks, but most of the time it just sucked.

"I love you," I said. She smiled a little through her anger.

"I love you too," she leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. That was a bad idea since I was driving and was dazed for a minute.

About fifteen minutes later we pulled into the museum. Leo and Nico were already there, fighting off automatons. Some of them were animals, some of them were human-shaped.

"How did you even set these off?" I shouted.

"I was trying to impress a girl!" Leo shouted, like that explained everything. He turned and shot a fireball at a mechanical bunny. Nico had raised skeletons that were now fighting off a pack of mechanical wolves while he slashed at human-figures with his iron sword.

Annabeth and I sprung into action. We worked like two halves of one person, slashing machines without even thinking. She seemed to know my movements before even I did, and with one look she could tell me her entire plan.

The machines weren't particularly hard to kill, there were just so many of them. Hundreds at least. I had a feeling we were not going to make our dinner reservations.

"So Percy, how are you going to make this up to me?" Annabeth asked as she stabbed a mechanical lion. When she bent, her left side became exposed and an automaton swordsman took notice. He went in, sworn pointed at her. I knocked its sword out of its hands with my own and bashed its head with the hilt of my blade.

"I just saved your life, so how's that?" I said.

She attacked an automaton that was coming to bite off my head and the lifeless metal corpse fell to the ground with a thud.

"I just saved your life, so you still owe me," she grinned.

We had been fighting for two hours when Leo remembered there was an off switch. It took two seconds for the remaining hundreds of machines to fall when he flipped the switch.

"YOU HAD AN OFF SWITCH THE WHOLE TIME! WE COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED! YOU IDIOT! YOU COMPLETE IDIOT! NOT TO MENTION THIS WAS ALL TO IMPRESS A GIRL IN THE FIRST PLACE! WHAT MADE YOU THINK RELEASING DEADLY MACHINES WOULD MAKE A MORTAL GIRL LIKE YOU?!" Annabeth was shouting. I hadn't seen her that angry in year. She probably would have killed Leo if I hadn't held her back.

"Calm down Annabeth. Leo couldn't help being born an idiot," I said as she tried to escape my grasp.

"I don't know if I should be offended or thank you," Leo said.

"Just clean this up," I gestured to the hundreds of metal corpses.

"All by myself?" Leo asked.

"Nico can help," I said.

"No, don't sign me up for that," Nico protested.

"Have fun," I said as I dragged a still struggling Annabeth back to the car.

"Well we missed our reservation, but we still have a few hours if you want to do something," I said.

"I'm tired, let's just go home," she said.

"Are you sure?"

"Take us home," she demanded. We drove all of the way home in silence.

When we finally pulled into the building's parking lot, I couldn't stand the silence. I knew Annabeth wasn't mad at me directly, but she was angry, and I was the one receiving it.

"Look, I'm sorry things didn't work out the way we planned, but-"

I didn't get to finish my sentence because she pulled me into a kiss. A deep kiss that I quickly gave into. She threw her arms behind my head and ran her fingers through my hair. Before I knew it she was practically sitting on my lap, and had still not broken the kiss.

I had no idea how long it had been, but I found myself wishing it had been just a moment longer when she broke away.

"That's all I really wanted today," she said. Her lips were still so close to mine that I could practically taste her words. I leaned forward again and kissed her again. Much to my disappointment, she quickly pulled away.

"Curfew," she said, gesturing to the car's clock. We were already ten minutes late. She awkwardly climbed off of me and back into her original seat. We slowly made our way back to the apartment.

"Are you guys okay?" Mom said as soon as the door opened. I hadn't noticed until now, but Annabeth's dress was torn to shreds and her hair was a complete mess (from a mixture of monster fighting and making out, but my mom didn't need to know about the making out part). I didn't look much better with my clothes torn and scorched (thanks Leo).

"Yeah, we're fine," I said.

"Oh, I'm sorry if your date was ruined," she said.

"It's fine," I said.

"Yeah, it wasn't that bad," Annabeth smirked.

We ended up on the couch, trying to watch "The Cave of Two Lovers", but we were both so tired that we fell asleep before the "Secret Tunnel" song even came on. Falling asleep with Annabeth in my arms pretty much made it the best Valentine's Day ever.

**I'm going to go watch "The Cave of Two Lovers" and maybe read some more Percabaeth fanfics to celebrate this day of dying alone with cats (as I say this my cat is watching me with pity in his eyes as if to say "You poor lonely soul"). **

**Thanks for reading! **

**-Arrietta**


	56. Chapter 56

**Hi. **

**Happy President's Day unless you happen to live in not America in which case Happy Normal Monday!**

** I'm going to answer questions now. **

**Q. Do you ship anything canon in Avatar?**

**A. Sokka and Suki.**

**Q. Have you read ****_The 39 Clues?_**

**A. Nope.**

**Q. If you had to bring one chic and one dude on a quest, who would you bring?**

**A. The guy would obviously be Leo and I'm not sure about the girl. Maybe Hazel? Haha, Frank probably wouldn't let her go on a quest with Leo. I would say Annabeth, but I don't think she'd want to be separated from Percy and two daughters of Athena wouldn't be a great plan. I think I'll have to go with Piper. Wow I really overthought that...**

**Q. Do you ever dream that your pets might be human?**

**A. No...**

**Q. What would you do if Annabeth brought Leo to you and said you had to marry him to save the world?**

**A. Well I guess if I had too... MARRY ME LEO!**

**Q. What Avatar character would you be?**

**A. Ty Lee**

**Q. What would you be the goddess of?**

**A. Awkwardness!**

**Q. Do you like Paramore?**

**A. I don't know what that is...**

**Q. Why is your name Arrietta Vistoso?**

**A. Why isn't your name Arrietta Vistoso?**

**Okay please enjoy this chapter! I'm going to continue watching Abraham Lincoln dance and try to sell me furniture. Gotta love President's Day commercials... **

Percy and I were visiting camp again, and this weekend Jason and Piper happened to be visiting as well. Jason and Percy were being idiots and had started a brag war. Eventually, they decided the only way to settle it was a sword fight. Piper and I were watching half-heartedly as our boyfriends tried to kill each other.

"So how are things in New Rome?" I asked.

"Weird," she said.

"Yeah, that place gives me the creeps," I said.

"That's not what I meant. It's great, and everyone's really nice, it's just a little weird. You know, being the only Greek in a Roman camp. And I think they give me some kind of special treatment because I'm the praetor's girlfriend. I don't know, I love it there, it's just weird," she said.

"Hmm, you'll probably get used to it," I said.

"I hope so, especially if I'll be living there my entire life. Do you ever wish you could just live in two worlds at once? I would love it if I could live at Camp Jupiter and Camp Half-Blood, instead of just the occasional weekend trip," she said.

"We're demigods, our whole lives are living in two worlds at once. It's like we have one foot in the godly world and one foot in the mortal world. You just have to find a balance," I said.

"I guess," Piper sighed. Percy knocked Jason to the ground and was doing a goofy victory dance.

"Look at that, my boyfriend's winning," I laughed. Percy continued his dance and blew a few kisses at me.

"Not for long," Piper said. While Percy was distracted with his dance, Jason got back up and attacked Percy from behind. In seconds Percy was on his stomach with a face full of dirt.

"Are you okay?" I shouted. An arm shot in the air and he gave me a thumbs-up.

"Why do they think it's fun to try beating each other's brains out?" Piper asked.

"Because it is fun," I said.

At this point Percy had stood back up and poured his water bottle on himself. Now reenergized, he charged straight at Jason. Jason flew ten feet in the air, leaving a confused Percy on the ground.

"That's cheating!" Percy shouted.

"Then so is pouring water on yourself!" Jason countered.

"No, anyone can pour water on themselves, but no one can fly!"

"I'm flying," Jason said.

"You are both dirty cheaters, no stop bickering and go back to killing each other please," I called. They didn't listen.

"Hey, kill each other! We're getting bored!" Piper shouted. They boys instantly picked up their weapons and went back into battle.

"Have I told you how awesome your charmspeak is?" I asked.

"I'm afraid it might have worked too well. I think they might actually try to kill each other," Piper said. Percy was trying to cut Jason at the neck while Jason was going straight for Percy's heart.

"Eh, they're wearing armor. They'll be fine," I said.

While Percy and Jason fought, a new conversation started up.

"So when were you guys planning to get married?" Piper asked.

"What?" I asked.

"You do know the meaning of the word 'engagement', right?"

"Yeah, I just hadn't really thought about it much," I said.

"Why do I have a bad feeling I've thought about this more than you have?" Piper said.

"How much have you thought about this?" I asked.

"Lacey and I once spent an hour discussing which flowers you should get," Piper said, slightly embarrassed. I put my head in my hands.

"I don't even want to think about this," I groaned.

"Do you even know how many years you want to wait? I mean technically if you wanted to you could get married next August…"

"I am _not_ getting married in high school," I said.

"Fine, then maybe after graduation?"

"I don't know, maybe. I don't want anything to distract me from college and my career. And Percy… he's a distraction."

Just as I said it Percy knocked Jason to the ground again and sat on his head.

"Get off of me!" Jason yelled.

"Nope," Percy said.

"Yeah, but maybe a domesticated Percy would be… less distracting," Piper suggested.

"Maybe I could make him get fat. Then he'd be much less distracting," I speculated.

Back in the arena, Jason had pushed Percy off of him and was now flying above him and kicking him.

"Don't break him!" I shouted at Jason. As I said it Jason kicked him in the gut and even I cringed.

"They're so mature," Piper said sarcastically.

Percy grabbed Jason's leg and Jason was now flying in a zigzag trying to shake Percy off.

"So if they actually kill each other, that means we don't have to watch this anymore, right?" I asked.

"I think so," Piper said.

"Hurry up and kill Jason! I want to get some lunch!" I shouted at the boys.

"No! Kill Percy! Come on Sparky, stop being a wimp!" Piper screamed.

In the end they ended up charging each other, bonking heads, and knocking themselves unconscious. Piper and I had to drag them by their feet all the way back to the Big House. It was the last time we let our boyfriends try to kill each other.

**Violence is fun!**

**Peace out!**

**Thanks for reading etc. etc.**

**-Arrietta**


	57. Chapter 57

**I'M SO SORRY THAT I'VE BEEN DEAD FOR LIKE A WEEK! PLEASE DON'T HATE ME I STILL LOVE YOU GUYS I JUST HAD A MILLION TESTS AND A DANCE AND LET'S FACE IT I'M JUST REALLY LAZY. ALSO YOU SHOULD ALL BE REALLY PROUD OF ME BECAUSE I TALKED TO A HUMAN WITH A Y CHROMOSOME THAT WASN'T RELATED TO ME OR A TEACHER. AREN'T YOU PROUD OF ME?**

**I'm done caps locking I just felt like it was necessary because I'd been gone for so long. **

**I'm going to shut up now and answer questions. **

**Q. Do you like waffles? Do you like pancakes? Do you like French toast?**

**A. Yes I like waffles! Yes I like pancakes! Yes I like French toast. Doo doo doo doo Gotta get a mouthful!... Waffles! **

**Q. Which of the seven would you kill off?**

**A. That's a mean question. You should know that bullying is wrong. I can't kill off any of my babies. **

**Q. What is one quirk about Leo that you don't like?**

**A. I feel like his uneasiness in cars would be sort of difficult to deal with, especially since I spend an hour or more in cars everyday. But I know we could get through that tiny setback. **

**Q. Do you like Chinese food?**

**A. Yeah I was at P. F. Chang's when I was talking to that Y chromosome I was talking about...**

**Q. Do you hate the word "hilar"?**

**A. Not particularly... I guess it's a little annoying but I don't hate it with a burning passion.**

**Q. What would you do if Leo died?**

**A. Die.**

**Q. What would you do if Leo had to marry your worst enemy?**

**A. That would be so awkward considering my worst enemy is a male... I'd probably laugh because it would be pretty torturous for my worst enemy (he's a judgmental person). **

**Q. What countries have you been to?**

**A. America and... that's it. **

**Q. What kind of bender would you be?**

**A. Air because I just go with the flow. Peace, love, and flying bison, man, that's my motto. **

**Q. Who's your favorite god or goddess?**

**A. Isis because I love the whole hippy rainbow vibe she has going. **

**Q. Do you like iLOVEsmellymarkers's stories?**

**A. I've only read "The Student Teacher" and it's amazing so I think I'll just spend my day reading her other stories. **

**Q. Oh that's awkward I'm out of questions but I already wrote the "Q" so I'm just typing random stuff right here. Awkward. Awkward. Awkward. **

**READ THE STORY NOW IT'S A LITTLE ANGSTY BUT THEN I JUST GAVE UP AND MADE A TV SHOW REFERENCE SO ANYONE WHO REVIEWS AND TELLS ME WHAT SHOW IT'S FROM I'LL GO READ ONE OF YOUR STORIES. DON'T CHEAT AND JUST GOOGLE IT BECAUSE CHEATING IS MORALLY WRONG!**

**Side note: I have no idea why that entire thing was in caps lock but hey yolo**

***punches self repeatedly for saying "yolo"***

**(Percy POV)**

It was all my fault. She was gone. She ran out the door and slammed it behind her. For a moment I was too stunned to even do anything. I didn't move, I didn't think. When I finally realized that she was gone, she had left all because I was just so stupid, it was too late. She was long gone, lost in New York.

I hardly remembered how the fight had started. I had lightly complained about how busy she had been lately. She had in turn made a comment about how she was trying to get into college. I joked how she practically had colleges begging for her to enroll. She replied by saying I should be trying harder if I wanted to go to college with her.

That was a bit of a touchy subject. Although improving, my grades had been in the toilet for years. My record was the stuff of nightmares. I was exactly the person colleges wanted nowhere near them. For years I hadn't expected to go to college, out of laziness or deadness. But now with Annabeth, and truthfully, myself, expecting me to be a Marine Biologist, or at least have a decent job, college was something I had to really think about.

It didn't take long for the agitated conversation to turn to screaming and arguing. Somehow the argument that was driving us apart was all about us trying to stay together.

It ended when Annabeth screamed that I was too lazy to care enough about her or anything else to actually try. I shouted back that she was the one who put her work in front of everything. I told her she would choose a stupid building over me. Before I could take it back she was gone.

I rushed out of the apartment in the pouring rain. I scanned the crowds of hurrying people who had no idea my life was crashing down on me. Annabeth was gone. I had lost her. I had lost her to a stupid fight. I promised her I wouldn't lose her again. But she was gone…

No. I would find her. She was not getting away. I would search all night- all my life, if I had to. I would find her.

"Annabeth!" I shouted through the crowds. "ANNABETH!"

"Shut up kid," a man in a business suit with an umbrella said as he rushed along.

It took me five hours to find her. Five hours in the pouring rain (I had to let myself get wet because the city was lousy with mortals). Five hours and the only thought in my mind was finding her.

She wasn't running. She wasn't hiding. She was waiting. Thinking back, I should have checked that particular place first. It was the same street we had fought on years ago. She was sitting in the same spot. If you looked closely enough, you might have even seen a few drops of blood on the sidewalk. She sat on the curb where she had once taken a knife for me. And she was waiting.

"Took you long enough, Seaweed Brain," she smiled sadly.

"You didn't make it easy," I said as I sat next to her on the curb. Her hair and clothes were soaked from the rain. Her eyes were puffy from crying. I draped my flimsy windbreaker over her shoulders. It wasn't much, but it was the best I could do.

"I told you I wouldn't make things easy for you," she said.

"And I told you that you weren't getting away from me again," I said.

"I'm sorry," we said at the same time. A little chuckle came from both of us.

"You know me too well," I sighed.

"That's what happens when you're in love," she said.

Even though they were pink and puffy, maybe even a little bloodshot, her eyes were sparkling. I brushed a wet strand of hair out of her face.

"I love you," she said.

"I love… cake," I said.

"Seaweed Brain!" she punched me in the arm.

"So, it's one in the morning. What do you say we get some cake?" I suggested.

"Are you serious?"

"What? I've been running for five hours, I'm hungry!"

"Yeah, well I've been sitting here for five hours. My butt hurts!"

"Cake will help," I said.

"Just help me up Seaweed Brain."

**BYE!**

**THANKS FOR READING!**

**-ARRIETTA**

**(I'm such a rebel I've been going crazy with the capital letters. Like someone call the capital letter police)**


	58. Chapter 58

**Hello creatures that are reading this that I assume are human but if you happen to be a Vulcan that's cool I won't judge but that wouldn't make since because this is a fictional love story which is very illogical and a Vulcan would probably never read it. **

**Oops my Trekie was showing.**

**Anyways I have some exciting news!**

**I ****_think _****I'm a Beta reader now. I only think it because I did all of the requirements but there was no final button or "Congratulations! You're a Beta!" notice so maybe I'm not. If you are a Beta and know that I have failed miserably because I didn't get the notice please let me know. If you want me to Beta-read for you go look for me under the Percy Jackson section because that's all I'm doing at the time. **

**Okay now that that's settled:**

**Q. What kind of dance do you do?**

**A. The white person dance where people ask if you're drunk...**

**Q. Have you ever had chicken fried steak?**

**A. No, but if I ever feel like having a heart attack I'll try it.**

**Q. Are you like this in real life?**

**A. Yes, it's just in real life people don't find my awkwardness funny, they just think I'm weird.**

**Q. What's "yolo"?**

**A. You're new to the internet, aren't you?**

**Q. How do you feel about yolo?**

**A. I think it's a lame excuse for people to do dumb things. (Not that I have anything against dumb things, I just don't need an excuse to do them.)**

**Q. What's your favorite TV show besides ****_Avatar?_**

**A. I am currently obsessed with ****_Bunheads._**

**Q. What was your favorite TV show as a kid?**

**A. ****_Drake and Josh_**

**Q. Do you like tacos?**

**A. Yes.**

**AND NOW THEY GO TO DC I TOLD YOU THESE CHAPTERS WERE COMING!**

**(Annabeth POV)**

"Alright everyone, load the bus," Mr. Rynn shouted. Mr. Rynn was a very irritable man who seemed to hate all of the students. He was also one of the chaperones for the junior class field trip to Washington DC, which meant we would be on a charter bus with him for five hours. The bus would also be full of loud and annoying students. At least Percy would be in the same us as me, otherwise the whole trip would be about as much fun as climbing the lava wall with a broken wrist (I fell and broke my leg the last time that happened).

"Does everyone have their buddy?" Ms. Pringle asked. Ms Pringle, one of the school counselors, was a completely overly perky person. She was also always in the students' business and generally annoyed everyone. Of course she was chaperoning the trip too.

"Ready buddy?" Percy asked. He intertwined his hand with mine and swung his arm with excitement. Everyone around us seemed excited too, apparently this was the biggest field trip the school went on and it was a big deal. Except a few 'too cool to care' kids, everyone was jumpy and anxious to get on the bus. I personally wasn't that ecstatic.

The thing was, I used to live in Virginia, very close to DC. My family would visit all the time and it was never a fun experience. Before my brothers were born we went to see the Capital Building. Turns out half the security guards were actually Cyclops. Another time we went all of the statues in the National Mall came to life and chased us. At the Washington Monument hellhounds attacked. I think you get the idea, I wasn't anxious to visit DC.

"I guess," I said a little sullenly.

"It's okay, I have exceptionally bad luck on field trips. We probably won't last ten minutes," he said cheerfully.

"GET ON THE BUS!" Mr. Rynn shouted at the stragglers at the back of the bus line. I could feel bits of his spit hit my face.

We shuffled into the bus and I slumped into a seat next to Percy. The bus driver began giving instructions on bus safety and Mr. Rynn was giving cold stares to the troublemaker kids, Percy and myself included. I knew something would go wrong, I just prayed to Hermes that the bus would at least get to DC safely.

When the bus started moving Percy promptly took Ricky the Unicorn Pillow Pet and pressed him against the window with his head and closed his eyes.

"Seaweed Brain are you seriously going to go to sleep?" I asked.

"Planning on it," he mumbled. I took Ricky from under his head and whacked him.

"NO FIGHTING ON THE BUS!" Mr. Rynn shouted from somewhere in the front rows. Percy gave me a look and tried not to laugh. _You got us in trouble,_ his eyes said.

The bus got very noisy very quickly. Kids were shouting across rows of seats to their friends and M&Ms were being thrown from nearly every seat. For some reason Mr. Rynn kept shouting at them but that only added to the chaos.

"Only four hours and forty seven minutes left," I muttered.

"Plus stopping for lunch and bathrooms breaks," Percy added.

"You aren't helping," I said. He slung his arm across my shoulders and I leaned into his chest. The bus seats were stiff and uncomfortable, but Percy's chest was like a perfect pillow. It took me only minutes to fall asleep.

"Get up lovebirds!" Jeremy said as he threw a pillow at us.

"The Sacred Cows got loose again!" Percy shouted.

"Percy?"

"It was Hedge! He let them out!"

"Percy!"

"What?" a suddenly conscious Percy asked. I was really glad I was not part of whatever messed up dream he was having.

"Uh… we're going to get lunch… unless you want to just talk about bushes and cows…" Jeremy said before hurriedly exiting the bus.

"What in Hades were you dreaming about?" I asked.

"I don't really know… you've never been a dolphin, right?"

"Percy did you actually just ask that?" I asked flatly.

"It was a really weird dream," he said. "Let's just get some lunch."

The rest stop was decent. There were several places to buy food set up like a mall food court. There was a Burger King, Starbucks, Subway, and other chains like that. In the middle there were tables where most of the class was already eating their food.

Percy and I bought sandwiches from Subway and looked for a table. Apparently the rest stop wasn't expecting a couple hundred kids to drop by because all the tables were completely filled.

"I think I saw some tables outside," he said. We walked into the brisk air outside. I was grateful for wearing Percy's stolen jacket because otherwise I would have been freezing.

"Seaweed Brain there are no tables out here," I said, gesturing to the tableless grass.

"We could just sit on the ground," he shrugged. "It'll be like a picnic."

I wasn't afraid of getting a little dirt on my jeans and picnics sort of were a thing for Percy and me, so I sat down. I had barely taken a bite when someone interrupted.

"White bread, what a disgrace," she said.

"Pardon?" I asked.

"You mortals and your white bread. I put all this work into my whole grains and you just go and refine it into your disgusting white bread," she said. The woman speaking had long chocolate brown hair that matched her eyes. Her clothes were somewhere between Mother Nature and a hippie, with flowers everywhere and a "got cereal?" shirt.

"Hi Lady Demeter," I said awkwardly because I had no idea why she was here.

"Next time be sure to get wheat bread. It does wonders for your health too," she said.

"Uh, thanks for the advice," I said, trying my best to be respectful, but I wasn't doing very well. Percy however wasn't trying at all.

"We're sort of trying to eat so it would be great if you could be… not here," he said.

"Hush up, I can do whatever I want, one of the perks of being a goddess," she said.

Percy and I exchanged a glance that clearly said, _What does this psycho immortal want with us?_

"Anyway, I have a little task for you," she continued.

"We're eating and the gods seem to really like interrupting us when we're eating so-" Percy started.

"I need you to protect my cereal," she stated. I resisted the urge to face-palm.

"Why does your cereal need protecting?" I asked.

"Well there is a very popular cereal box exhibit at the Smithsonian, and they are thinking about putting it in storage!" she said.

"How tragic," I said.

"Oh I know," she said, obviously not catching the obvious sarcasm. "That exhibit is in honor of me, it's all I have! Of course Zeus has that entire Air and Space section. And humble Demeter has one measly exhibit. Imagine my same if they took it down! I would be the laughing stock of Olympus!"

"I'm sorry but what in Hades are we supposed to do about this?" I asked.

"Do not mention that ungrateful Hades. He is such a pathetic excuse for a son-in-law. Anyway, I need you to save my exhibit," the goddess said.

"Can't you just, wave your hand, bippity-boppity-boo, exhibit is saved?" Percy asked.

"No, the exhibits are temples and it is up to mortals if they want to keep them or not. I cannot interfere, so you must save my cereal."

"Can't Katie or one of your other kids do this?" I asked. I knew Katie would take much more interest in defending cereal than either Percy or I.

"You're already on your way. Do it and I'll put in a good word for Percy with Athena," Demeter said. Percy perked up.

"Deal," he said.

"No deal," I argued.

"Yes deal," he said. "Come on, I need the credit."

"Percy you actually think if saving the world and my life won't get you credit but saving cereal will you are dumber than I thought."

"Athena considers me one of her closest friends," Demeter added.

"We'll do it," Percy said. I groaned and flopped backwards into the grass. With a whooshing sound Demeter was gone and only the smell of Honey Nut Cheerios remained.

"I want a whooshing sound when I dramatically leave," I said very philosophically.

"Whoosh," Percy said half-heartedly.

**Thanks for reading bye!**

**-Arrietta**


	59. Chapter 59

**Greetings homo-sapiens!**

**OHMYSWEETBABYCARROTS! According to a guest review from somebody named Kerry, Zachary Tyler Eisen, who voiced Aang in Avatar the Last Airbender has read, and enjoyed this story. Kerry, if you are reading this you have no idea how loud I screamed when I read that, then I called my friend (SmellofRoses) and bragged in her face. And Zach, if you are reading this... hi! I don't know if this is actually true, but if it isn't that's a really mean joke. I really hope it's true!**

**Okay psychotic rambling is over. **

**Q. Do you like the goddess Demeter?**

**A. Sure.**

**Q. Do you like the rain?**

**A. Yup.**

**Q. Are you an artist?**

**A. I love drawing and I take art classes and I really want to minor in art in college so I would probably consider myself an artist.**

**Q. Do you play an instrument?**

**A. I tried piano but I sucked at it.**

**Q. Do you like anime?**

**A. I've honestly never watched anime but it looks so cool, I just don't know which of the shows are good. I used to watch Pokemon though. **

**Q. What's your favorite animal?**

**A. Bunnies. **

**Q. Pickles or bananas?**

**A. Is this supposed to be perverted? Oh well, bananas.**

**Q. Did you change the picture?**

**A. FINALLY SOMEONE NOTICES!**

**Q. Did you draw the picture?**

**A. Yes.**

**Q. How much of a Percabeth shipper are you and how do you show your support?**

**A. They are my favorite ship ever and I show my support by writing this fanfiction.**

**Q. What would you do if you were Annabeth and Percy died?**

**A. I'll start off by saying I am nowhere near as strong as Annabeth. She would definately handle it better than me. I'll also say I've never had someone close to me die so I don't know how I would react if anyone I loved died. I feel like Annabeth would be hurt, but she's strong and she's been hurt before, she'd get through it. **

**(Percy POV)**

Finally we had arrived in DC, three hundred kids looking unbearably tacky in matching purple "Goode High School" t-shirts and assortments of jackets and coats.

The bus ride wasn't all that bad, mostly because I slept most of the way with Annabeth using me as her personal pillow (which I didn't mind at all). Now the chaperones were taking attendance and handing out hotel room keys. We would put our bags in the rooms and then be heading out to see some monuments and memorials of a lot dead people. I guess that's what the school considers "fun."

"Jeremy, Brian, Sean, Percy," Mr. Rynn read from the paper. My friends and I walked up and took our room key. Annabeth, Laura, Tara, and a girl named Jane who I had never met but was apparently friends with Tara, were already in their room on the fifth floor. I looked at our room key and saw we were on the sixth floor. I tried to calculate how long it would take me to run down a flight of stair in case of emergency, but I'm really bad at math so I just decided I would run as fast as I could.

We took the long walk up the stair because the line for the elevator was unbearably long. I didn't mind the climb very much (it was nothing compared to the lava wall), but my roommates were complaining by the third floor.

The room was pretty nice for a school trip. I wasn't very picky about hotel rooms since almost anywhere was better than some of the places I had slept over the years. Woods, caves, trucks, monster infested pits of death. I was just hoping nothing bad would happen and completely trash the room, or worse, put my friends in danger. I patted my pocket to check for Riptide. Of course it was still there, but I was paranoid.

"Percy, stop feeling your butt," Jeremy said in a mocking voice.

"I was… just checking for my pen," I said. I pulled Riptide (in pen form) out to prove my point.

"Oh, I need to write something down. Can I borrow that?" Sean asked.

"Nope," I said.

"Please?"

"Nope," I repeated.

"Dude, it's just a pen," Sean said. _Just a pen… that saved the world._

"It's my special pen," I said. I didn't realize how stupid that sounded until the words escaped my mouth. I cursed myself in Greek and cursed the god of making up excuses because apparently he hated me. Meanwhile my friends started laughing and giving me weird looks. It was times like these when my incredible awkwardness reminded me why I didn't have many mortal friends. That and the fact that anytime something goes wrong I'm right at the scene of the crime makes me pretty much a freak. Oh well.

After about ten or so minutes of sheer humiliation it was time to rejoin our class to go to a museum or something like that. My friends had already made it clear that they would be nowhere near Annabeth in a museum because it had taken them about two days to learn that whenever she knew something about anything she wouldn't shut up about it. Jeremy had also said something about giving us some "alone time", but I had no idea what he thought was going to happen in a museum…

The girls were already waiting in the lobby and sitting in some couches with stuffing coming out through tears. I thought about how nice it would be to sit in the chairs for a while and just talk and laugh when Mr. Rynn interrupted.

"Load the bus!" he shouted. There goes having a relaxing afternoon.

I felt a hand intertwine with mine and I flinched. Then I turned and saw Annabeth smiling sweetly (which was a little weird for her) and standing so close I could smell her lemon shampoo. _How did she sneak up on me like that?_

"I don't bite," she said, her sweet smile turning into a much more familiar snarky one. I was somewhat relieved because when Annabeth pulled out the sweet smile she was usually trying to trick someone or get something. And Annabeth could be pretty convincing.

"Or does she?" Laura said suggestively. Annabeth gave a death glance to rival Lupa's. "Never mind," Laura said, suddenly very red faced and timid.

"LOAD THE BUS!" Mr. Rynn shouted again, since only about four students had even moved since he shouted the first time.

Once the class had loaded the busses again Mr. Rynn told us that we were going to the Smithsonian, which meant Annabeth and I could start our mini-quest immediately. I was less than excited.

"So we should go to the American History Museum, that's where the cereal exhibit is," Annabeth said once we had arrived at the Smithsonian.

"Okay," I said. I had no other plan and Annabeth was the plan maker anyways.

"So the museum closes at five, if we can get this done in less than an hour we'll still have enough time to see The Castle," she continued, probably talking more to herself than to me.

"Got it, we just have to save some cereal to prevent complete unbalance and chaos among the gods. Nothing too unusual," I said. Annabeth rolled her eyes, but we both knew it was completely true. Keeping the gods from screwing up the world was part of our everyday life.

As soon as we stepped into the museum my brain went into overdrive. It wasn't stuffy and full of dusty artifacts like most museums. This one was full of movie props and old advertisement posters and all kinds of other quirky things. The more I saw the less and less strange a cereal exhibit began to sound. Annabeth started talking about everything she saw, but I honestly think she wasn't conscious of half the things she was saying. It was like her mind was somewhere different entirely and the things she was saying were just subconscious reactions to the things she saw. It amazed me how she could name facts without thinking whereas it would take me an eternity to name just one.

Before I knew it we were standing in a small room lined with cereal boxes and I had no idea what we were supposed to do about it. Were we supposed to just go to the museum owner and say, _Hey could you not destroy the cereal exhibit? Because otherwise a goddess will be mad and I won't get a good recommendation. _Yeah, that's how you get sent to the loony bin.

There was a tall security guard in the corner who seemed to be eying us suspiciously. Then I realized that he was only looking at us with one eye. The security guard was a Cyclops, and from the looks of him he wasn't the nice kind like Tyson, he was more like the I-will-eat-you-and-use-extra-ketchup kind.

"Percy, the guard isn't human," Annabeth whispered.

"Yup," I said.

"Follow my lead," she said. Annabeth put on that sweet smile again and approached the Cyclops.

"Hello sir," she said.

"Food," the Cyclops said. That was not okay because I really didn't want this guy to eat my fiancée for dinner.

"Yes, I'm quite delicious," Annabeth said. By the look on her face after she said it I could tell she hadn't really thought about it beforehand. She was probably mentally cursing herself for saying it and thinking of all the things she should have said instead of "I'm quite delicious."

"No, not delicious. We actually taste absolutely terrible, ask any monster. You would have to use so much ketchup you might as well just not eat us at all," I said. I wasn't sure if what I said was helpful, stupid, or both.

"Ketchup," the Cyclops repeated.

"Yeah, it's full of sodium, really bad for your health," I continued. I had no idea what I was even saying.

"Bad health?" the monster asked.

"Yeah, then you'd like, die and stuff," I said.

"Percy," Annabeth said.

"Yes?"

"Shut up and let me handle this," she said. She put her smile back on and turned to the Cyclops. "So do you know why this fine exhibit is being taken down?"

"It not good. People not like." The Cyclops said. "It better if I eat you?"

"No, not really," she said. "But I think a lot of people like this exhibit, especially Lady Demeter. I mean who doesn't want to learn more about… Coco Puffs?" It was sad to see Annabeth, the world's most perfect student, struggling to make something learning related sound interesting.

"Coco Puffs don't taste better than demigod," the Cyclops said. I had been trying to read his nametag since we had gotten close enough, but I was having trouble. I think it was "Buck", but for a while I had been really confused because it really looked like something else.

"Where's a charmspeaker when you need one," Annabeth muttered.

"California," I said.

"Not helping," she said.

"Dan want ex-hib-it gone because wheat lady spawn killed Emmy," Buck continued.

"Who is Dan?" Annabeth asked.

"Dan is boss man," Buck said.

"Can you take us to see Dan?" she asked.

"Yes, Dan has ketchup. I eat demigods with ketchup," he said. So naturally we followed him. Buck lead us through a maze of exhibits and office hallways until we reached a very large office. I noticed that every security guard I saw was a Cyclops, which concerned me.

"Are all of the guards in the Smithsonian Cyclops?" I asked.

"We are all security in DC, except for Secret Service. They are robots," Buck said.

"Oh, good to know our country's capital is protected by mythological creatures that probably want to kill me," I said.

"Not probably, I do want to kill you," Buck corrected.

Inside the large room was a Cyclops bigger and uglier than any of the other's we had seen. Although he was hideous, he was a very polished kind of ugly. The other Cyclops looked unclean and greasy, whereas this one wore a crisp XXXL business suit and his hair was professionally trimmed. He sat behind a large wooden desk with the name "Dan" simply written on the name plaque.

"You brought lunch?" the monster assumed to be Dan asked.

"Yes, but I need ketchup," Buck said.

"Uh, no ketchup, we have a proposition," Annabeth said. I heard Buck trying to pronounce the word "proposition" under his breath.

"Go on, I'm always up for a deal," he said.

"We think that it is in everyone's best interest to keep the exhibit on cereal open. It's terribly fascinating and I think it really draws the crowds in," she said, choosing her words carefully.

"Bah, no one likes that boring old thing. Besides, I must reap my revenge on Demeter!" he said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Her little she-demon of a child killed my daughter, Emmy," Dan said. I recalled Katie Gardner proudly telling the story of how she slaughtered a Cyclops that had attacked the camp while we were away on our quest. I had a feeling that Emmy was said Cyclops.

"Umm, for the record Emmy was sort of trying to kill us all," I pointed out. Annabeth promptly punched me in the arm.

"So what?" Dan asked.

"Well killing people is frowned upon in many societies…" she muttered.

"Yes, which is why we kill cereal because cereal girl killed Emmy, everything is fair," he said.

"Annabeth, you were saying something about a deal," I said to return the increasingly violent conversation to something more…civil.

"Yes, if you keep the cereal exhibit-"

"Or I destroy the exhibit and eat you and everyone is happy," Dan interrupted. I thought that I wouldn't be very happy if I was eaten.

"How about you save the exhibit and we won't kill you," I said. Dan laughed and Buck nervously joined in but I could tell he had no idea why he was laughing.

"You pathetic demigods think you can defeat me? I am Dan, head of Smithsonian Security Cyclopses. They don't let just anybody be the head of SSC, only the smartest, strongest, and most powerful Cyclops. And who do you think you are?"

"I am Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon, Savior and Hero of Olympus," I said. I mentally slapped myself for sounding so much like Jason when he gives his little "Praetor of the Twelfth Legion, Child of Rome" or whatever speech.

"Ooh, fine Mr. Hero, how about this? You and I fight, one on one. When I win I get to eat you and your little friend and destroy the cereal," Dan said.

"And when _I_ win you have to save the cereal and let my friend and I go," I said.

"Percy! That was not the plan! We were going to use mature negotiating and reasoning to convince him to save the exhibit! Not a fight! At least not one without me!" Annabeth shouted. I'm pretty sure I've said it before, but of all the horrifying things I've seen (and I've seen a lot of terrifying things) there is nothing scarier than Annabeth when she's angry. I don't mean her everyday we're-out-of-pop-tarts-and-I-really-wanted-a-pop-tart angry, but the Percy-you-bet-our-lives-_again-_without-even-consulting-me angry. And the fact that I had bet our lives over boxes of cereal probably wasn't helping.

"It's okay Annabeth, I've got this handled," I said. I wasn't sure how much I believed it. This Cyclops was big and smarter than most and I had to fight him alone. Sure, I was a pretty good fighter, but I did a lot better when Annabeth was fighting by my side.

She kissed me quickly. "Don't get us killed."

**Bye!** **I love all of you!**

**-Arrietta**


	60. Chapter 60

**Tengo mucho grande news!**

**I'm terrible at Spanish... but that's not the news.**

**I am stopping the Q&A! But it is not dying in vain, because I will be starting something new! I will start a story in which I will take one-shot requests. I will do almost any pairing, or even just a few charcaters you want to see hanging out or whatever (I will NOT write Thalico because I'm not into self-harm). So once that story is up you can leave a pairing, a prompt, as specific as you want it to be. So get excited, that should be up in a few days! Also if you have a name suggestion I have no idea what to call it.**

**Okay last Q&A!**

**Q. Would you blow a balloon until it pops?**

**A. Sure.**

**Q. Who's you favorite character on Pokemon? And favorite Pokemon?**

**A. Misty and Entai.**

**Q. Do you think Percy can blood bend?**

**A. Yes but I don't think he'd ever try it for the same reasons Katara hated doing it. **

**Q. What's OC and OOC?**

**A. OC is original character and OOC (or OoC) is out of character.**

**Q. Do you like caramel popcorn?**

**A. Yup.**

**Q. Do you like pineapple?**

**A. Yup. (Have you ever noticed that pineapples never wear bathrobes?)**

**Oh teary eyed as that ends. Not really. Some of you asked some really weird questions. **

**Enjoy!**

Yes I was angry at Percy. He's an idiot. Actually, idiot is too nice of a word. Think of the most insulting word you could use to describe a stupid, arrogant, impulsive person. That word is still too nice.

I mean seriously, I thought he had gotten past the "I'll save the day and all my friends by myself" thing. I thought it had finally gotten through his thick skull that we were a team and he couldn't just go off fighting on his own while I sat on the sidelines. I was not some damsel in distress that was going to watch the prince fight the monster. _Percy as a prince_, I almost laughed at the thought.

The Cyclops didn't waste type getting to the fight. He lunged at Percy the moment our lips parted. Luckily Percy was still a little on the skinny side and dodged out of the way. On impulse I rushed forward to kill the monster that was trying to kill my boyfriend, even if I was extremely frustrated with him at the moment. Buck the security guard apparently didn't like that idea and grabbed me around the waist. I cursed so many things I lost count for letting Buck be so big and muscular, I couldn't even move.

Percy drew his sword and began fighting Dan. I struggled against Buck's arms but I was stuck. I felt so helpless. I couldn't do anything but watch. I was so mad at Percy for putting me in this situation. I knew it was his impulsiveness and his loyalty and trying to protect me, but I didn't need protecting.

The office was fairly large, but not optimal for fighting. And Percy's fighting style typically required a lot of running around and dodging, which could not be easily done in an office with an abundance of furniture. He was struggling. Dan had taken up a lamp as him weapon and had already bashed Percy in the head several times. I didn't know how much longer he could last.

I saw a mini fridge next to the desk and ideas started forming.

"Buck, I'm so thirsty," I said. He grunted. "I bet I wouldn't taste very good if I'm all dried out," I continued. Buck grunted as if to express his interest in me having juicy demigod. "Can you just give me a bottle of water? I'm parched."

Buck complied. He dropped me on the ground. "Stay." He watched me as he moved to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water.

"Thanks," I said when he handed it to me. I unscrewed the cap and pretended to take a sip while I waited for Percy to get closer. It didn't take long. As soon as he was within a few feet I splashed the water onto him. It worked. His wounds healed and he was fighting harder than before.

"Hey! No splashy!" Buck said.

"Sorry, I have arm spasms…" I said. Buck seemed to buy it. I thanked the gods that Buck was an idiot.

"He's unconscious!" Percy said proudly, raising his sword in the air and putting a foot on Dan's chest.

"You're welcome," I said.

"So remember to protect the cereal, and we're just going to go," Percy said, taking my hand and we ran out the door before Buck could protest.

Once we had made it outside Percy sat down on the steps to some building. He was breathing heavily and looked like he might pass out. "Thanks for helping me out back there," he said. I didn't respond.

"Annabeth? Are you okay?" he asked. I still didn't respond.

"You have to talk to me," he said.

"In case you forgot we are in the capital of a _free_ country, which means I do not have to do anything," I said.

"Okay, I'm sorry I was being stupid. I'm sorry I risked our lives."

"This isn't about you risking our lives. This is about how you ignored my plan. This is about how you ignored us working as a team and went in yourself. This is about how I was held by a smelly Cyclops while you fought. We're supposed to be in this together. You can't always play the hero card and do it yourself. We're in this together!" I shouted.

"Well I'm sorry for trying to just get it over with quickly so we could enjoy our time in DC," he said bitterly.

"No, you just wanted to save the day just like you always do. Percy's always the hero."

"Seriously? You think I want to be the hero all of the time? I don't want any of this. I don't want monsters and gods and everything that comes with it!"

"You don't want anything that comes with it? You don't want Camp Half-Blood? You don't want me?"

"Annabeth, that's not what I meant."

"Well that's what you said."

"I didn't mean it," he said. "If someone offered right now to take all of the pain, all of the problems, all of everything out of my life I wouldn't do it. Because this is my life. My life is one problem after another. But I wouldn't trade it, because I have you. You make everything worth it. You are my entire life. I love you."

I punched him in the stomach. Then I kissed him. Then I punched him again so he knew I was still angry. "I love you too." Then I kissed him so he knew I meant it.

"You have the strangest way of showing it," he laughed.

**Bye! Thanks for reading!**

**-Arrietta**


	61. Chapter 61

**Updating during school #rebel**

**My friend Charlie now noticed I'm updating and is forcing me to mention her.**

**Everyone say say "Hi Charlie."**

**In case you have not yet found it, my new story is called "One-shots, Drabbles, and Fluff, Oh My!"**

**Now please enjoy this slightly perverted chapter!**

**(Percy POV)**

"Dude, did you see this?" Sean said, looking out the window of our hotel room.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Our fire escape goes right down to the girl's window," he grinned.

"No way! We've got to take advantage of this," Jeremy said, walking over to the window.

"Oh come on guys, we have to give them their privacy," I said. More than anything I was worried about how Annabeth would kill anyone she caught peeking in her window, whether they were her friends or not.

"Nope," they all said at the same time. Before I could protest Jeremy was climbing out the window. I began to contemplate what color burial shroud Tyson would make for me. I was almost positive it would have fish-ponies on it.

"No! Oh you have to see this!" he was shouting. I peered out the window to see him standing on the fire escape of the girl's room and looking in their window. Why did I befriend such creeps?

"What?" all of us asked.

"Annabeth's only wearing boxers and a sports bra!" he said. I was immediately hit with a mix of emotions. I was angry at Jeremy for looking at Annabeth when she wasn't exactly decent. I was embarrassed because knowing Jeremy a rush of inappropriate jokes were about to come my way.

"Come on man, stop being such a creep," I said.

"What? Are you jealous?" Jeremy called up.

"Sorry I don't want you looking at my girlfriend like that," I said. If Annabeth didn't beat him up for this I thought I might.

"Okay, she just put a shirt on," he said. "Oh look now she's making out with Laura."

"WHAT?!"

"Calm down, it was a joke. Jeez," Jeremy said. He climbed back up the fire escape and into the window. I hoped there would be no more adventures in Creeperland for the duration of the trip.

**How disturbing! Now, go back to actually paying attention in science class. **

**Thanks for reading! Bye!**

**-Arrietta**


	62. Chapter 62

**Hey everyone!**

**I put a poll on my profile if you wanna check that out or whatever. **

**Enjoy this chapter!**

**I might not update very consistently for a week or so, I have exams next week. And I haven't started studying...**

**Enjoy the fruits of my procrastination!**

**(Annabeth POV)**

The class was taking a tour of monuments which meant a lot of walking and a lot of complaining from the grumpier students. I didn't much mind the walk and was enjoying straggling behind the group with my hand intertwined with Percy's. I could tell he was making a conscious effort to listen to my constant rambles on each and every historical sight we passed, but I could tell he was struggling.

The majority of the monuments and memorials were dedicated to demigods that were so prominent they made a difference in not only the godly world, but the mortal world as well. I couldn't help but wonder if someday I would make enough difference to have something so amazing in my honor.

"Washington Monument, construction began in 1848 but was stopped one-third of the way through in '56 because of lack of funds. Restarted in 1876 but with different limestone. That's why it changes color slightly one-third of the way up," I said as we walked past it, reciting what I had read in one of my architectural books.

"It's an obelisk, a structure accredited to the Ancient Egyptians," I continued.

"Hey Annabeth, you know how there are Greek and Roman gods?" Percy asked.

"Yes Percy, I was aware of that," I said.

"Do you think there might be Egyptian ones too?"

"Don't be ridiculous Percy, the Egyptians were just a bunch of nuts," I said.

"It was just a thought. You know most people would thing we're nuts for believing in Greek gods. Up until about a year ago we both would have thought the idea of Roman gods was nuts."

"I think our lives are complicated enough without including Egyptian gods as well. Got it Cleopatra? Let it be someone else's problem if they do exist," I said.

"So George Washington. Son of Athena, first president of the United States, Revolutionary War hero, and a whole lot of other stuff," Percy said. I raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, you rub off on me. Guess Washington sets the standards pretty high for all you kids of Athena, huh?" Percy continued.

You know how Percy doesn't really think before he talks? You know how he never means to offend anyone (mostly) but sometimes does because he's too obtuse to realize what he said? This was one of those times.

It's just that Percy had been told by his father that he was his favorite son. That's no small deal. If a god says he prefers you to even his immortal son or one of his sons that had made the history books, that's a really big deal. My mother and I didn't quite have that relationship. Yes, I was her first daughter to ever be significantly active in a war. Yes, I was the first and only to recover the Athena Parthenos (at the expense of spending some quality time in Tartarus). But I still wasn't Washington, who practically founded and led a brand new nation where the gods now lived. I wasn't Washington who brought the Greek Democratic System to America. I wasn't Washington who had countless buildings, streets, cities, and even a state named after him. No, I was still just Annabeth Chase, high school junior. Not that impressive.

I looked up at the monument, strongly doubting I would ever come close to having such an honor. I just had to accept that I was never going to be my mother's favorite. Of course, being me that idea didn't settle well. It could maybe be called selfish, but I wanted to be Athena's favorite. I wanted to have monuments and cities and to have little kids in school learn about me and think of me as a hero and maybe dress up as me in a school play. Okay, maybe not the school play part because that would actually be a little creepy.

"Hey, it's been two minutes and you haven't said any facts. Are you okay?" Percy asked.

"What?" I said, coming out of my thoughts. "I'm fine, just thinking."

"Of course you were," he said.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You just always think," he said.

"If you're not thinking you might as well not be living. As René Descartes said, 'I think, therefore I am.'"

"Sometimes it's just easier not to think so much, especially when there's too much to think about."

"That's exactly the kind of thing someone like you would say. How simple it would be to just not care and choose not to think," I said wistfully.

"I care about things, like you and everyone at camp and Mom and Paul," Percy defensively. I noted how Percy only mentioned the people he cared about, not the things he wanted for himself. The only thing he wanted for himself was everyone else's safety, which was the largest difference between us. Don't get me wrong, if I had to choose between the safety of my friends and having a monument I would chose my friends without a second thought. But making something permanent and being remembered was definitely a close second. I didn't think Percy would really have a second to his friends and family, they were all he had or ever wanted.

"Percy, you'd never lie to me, right? Even if it was just to be nice and to spare my feelings?" I asked. It was a stupid question and I knew the answer.

"I'd never lie to you. You know me too well, you'd know instantly and then threaten me with your dagger to tell the truth," he laughed to add an air of lightness to my randomly heavy question in our casual conversation.

"Do you think I'll ever be great? Do you think people will remember me?" I asked in a quiet voice that I doubted Percy could even hear. But being Percy, he heard even the things I didn't say so he heard me perfectly.

"Annabeth, you are the smartest, strongest, bravest, most amazing girl I know and could ever imagine. I don't _think_ you'll be great, I _know _you'll be great. If you aren't the most prominent woman of the century, the millennia for that matter, gods then our world would have to be more screwed up than I thought. If anyone can do it, it's you. And all I want to do is help you with whatever you need to get there," he said. I could tell by his eyes that he meant every word of it.

Then we went back to walking hand in hand and I continued rambling facts about monuments.

**Soul searching... because sometimes I feel philosophical. **

**If you ever want to ponder the mysteries of the universe with me sometime go ahead and send me a PM. **

**Thanks for reading!**

**-Arrietta**


	63. Chapter 63

**I'm so sorry I haven't updated in forever! Don't hate me!**

**Okay here's the chapter as my token of forgiveness.**

**(Percy POV)**

Our tour had taken us to the Jefferson Memorial. It was all marble and had a great statue of the guy who… did something? It was also right next to the lake, so naturally everyone was playing chicken and seeing who would dangle the most limbs over the dark cold water. Jeremy and some football player were currently fighting about some technicality. The football player had stretched both arms and a leg over the edge, whereas Jeremy had laid on the ground and dangled his head and both arms over the water (Jeremy claimed that a head should count as two limbs since it was more important).

Annabeth however was having none of that "foolishness". She insisted they were all going to get a month's detention and was making me actually look at the memorial while everyone else had fun. And had I been allowed I totally would have won at chicken.

"Isn't this just amazing!" she said as she looked at something in swirly writing on the wall that I knew for a fact she couldn't read.

"What's so great about the guy who invented the light bulb that they gave him a memorial?" I asked.

She stared at me and I knew whatever I had said was stupid, wrong, and possibly offensive.

"Percy, I'll say this slowly: Thomas _Edison_ invented the light bulb. Thomas _Jefferson _wrote the Declaration of Independence and was the third president of the United States."

"So where's Thomas Edison's memorial?" I asked.

"He doesn't have one."

"Why not?"

"They don't just go around giving everyone memorials."

"Do I have a memorial?"

"You'd have to die first."

"Why?"

"Percy, just go stand outside please. I need to recover the brain cells I lost during that conversation."

I did what she said and joined my friends, but the football player had already won chicken by the ruling that Jeremy really wouldn't be losing much if he lost his head (Laura was the judge in case you couldn't tell).

I sat on the marble edge and let my feet dangle so that my sneakers barely skimmed the water's surface. That was a really stupid idea.

You know how I said that the bullies mostly left me alone? Well "mostly" was the operative word there. I wasn't really supporting myself on the edge well because I thought I had nothing to fear. I was an easy target.

Some popular kid who thought it was hilarious to mess with whoever he could came up behind me with his friends and barely had to push to get me to topple into the water. I didn't know what was going on and was about to just push myself right back up when I remembered half our class was probably watching me. And all of them would be completely freaked out if stood on water like it was a solid.

So I had to do what I had to do. I fell into the water and became completely soaked. It may have been humiliating if I wasn't so used to humiliation, and really I was more annoyed than anything.

So I got very wet. I flailed around because honestly I'm not the best swimmer since I usually don't have to, the water just cooperates. Through the sloshing of water in my ears I could hear everyone laughing as I flailed some more.

Then I heard someone else's voice. It was Annabeth, kneeling on the edge of the water. Her expression was a mixture of concern and disappointment. Her hand was outstretched to me.

"Gods Seaweed Brain, can't I leave you alone for five minutes without you messing something up?" she laughed.

"I guess not," I shrugged.

"Just take my hand, Seaweed Brain."

**Thanks for reading and leave a review!**

**Bye!**

**-Arrietta**


	64. Chapter 64

**I'm feeling cliche, what about you? **

**Behold the great and powerful cliche!**

**(Annabeth POV)**

I was really looking forward to an evening of reading my book. I honestly was. Books are really great. You know why books are so great? They don't try to pry into your private life and make you do stupid stunts like people do. If I wasn't engaged I'd just marry my freaking book.

"Let's play truth or dare!" the new girl, Tara's friend Jane said.

"We aren't in the seventh grade," Laura said.

"Oh I think it'll be fun," Tara said. "What about you Annabeth?"

"Nope," I said.

"Please," Tara begged.

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?"

"I will throw you out the window."

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-"

"If I play will you just shut up?"

"Yes."

"Fine."

So we sat in a circle on one of the beds and the middle school party game began.

"I'll start! Truth or dare Tara?" Jane said.

"Dare," Tara said. Holy Hephaestus this game was tedious.

"I dare you to go to the ice machine, get ice cubes, and hold them under your armpits until they melt," Jane said without even thinking about it. I had a feeling she may have started this whole game just because she thought of the one dare.

"You suck," Tara said as she stood up.

"Thanks," Jane replied. Tara ducked out of the room to get her ice, leaving Laura and I with Jane, who we hardly knew and frankly I found her a bit too perky and annoying. Tara was perky and annoying enough but Jane was just about unbearable.

"Someone else go while Tara's out," Jane said. Neither Laura nor I moved or spoke. "Come on Annabeth, do one."

"Laura, truth or dare?" I asked.

"Truth."

"Is it true you breathe?"

"Aw shucks, how'd you know?" Laura said, her face completely expressionless.

Thankfully at that moment Laura came in with ice cubes, which she promptly shoved under her arm pits. Is this normal for sleepovers?

"I guess it's my turn now," Tara said. "Truth or dare, Annabeth?"

"Truth, I guess," I said.

"Who was your first kiss?" she asked.

"Percy," I said without a moment's hesitation.

"Aww, were you his first kiss too?"

"As far as I know I was," I said.

"That's so romantic! First and only love! It's like a movie or something," Tara squealed.

"Are we done with this game yet?" I asked.

"No, and it's your turn."

"Truth or dare, Jane?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to end this game," I said.

"Boo! Do a real dare," Tara said.

"Fine, I dare you to… lick Laura's shoe," I said. Laura smiled at me as Jane picked up the shoe, frowned, and reluctantly licked the sole of it.

"Just an FYI, I stepped in dog poop today," Laura laughed.

"Eww! That's so disgusting! I'm going to go brush my teeth!" Jane said as she ran into the bathroom.

"Guys, be nice to Jane, she's my friend," Tara said.

"I'm not nice to anyone," Laura defended. Tara's big innocent eyes narrowed and her expression hardened. "Fine, I'll play nice," Laura said.

"Great, now truth or dare?" Tara asked.

"Are you serious?" Laura asked. Tara nodded. "Fine, truth."

"Who was your first kiss?"

"How original?" Laura said. "Um, this is kind of embarrassing, but in the third grade Jeremy and I were on the basketball team together. One time after practice we were hiding under the bleachers because we didn't want to go home. Anyways he kissed me and it lasted a half second and we were eight so it shouldn't even count, but yeah…"

"You kissed Jeremy!?" Tara screamed.

"Oh, just tell the whole world, why don't you?"

"I always thought you two would be a cute couple," Tara said dreamily.

"Tara you think everyone would be a cute couple," Laura said.

"That's because couples are cute."

"What's cute?" Jane asked

"Puppies. Puppies are just so freaking adorable," Laura said. She shot Tara and me looks that said, "Tell her and you die." I didn't need to be told twice, Jane was a terrible gossip. She had told me stories about every girl in our class, all of which I didn't care about in the slightest. She always started a story with "I'm telling you this because you're my friends, but I don't want everyone to know." I might have believed it if she hadn't told me a story starting like that twenty minutes after I met her.

"Okay, I think it's my turn again," Jane said. "Truth or dare, Annabeth?"

"Truth," I said again, miserably. I wasn't afraid of a dare, I just didn't really feel like moving and knowing Jane the dare would probably involve stripping of some sort.

"If Percy were to die," she started. This already wasn't going well. "Who would you date instead?"

"Probably no one," I said honestly.

"Oh come on, there's got to be someone else you'd date. Like what about Zac Efron?" Jane continued.

"I will not deny that Zac Efron is incredibly attractive, but I can't picture myself with anyone but Percy. We've been through too much, it's him or no one," I said. The only boy who had even come close to knowing me as well as Percy was Luke, but he loved Thalia and was more of a brother, and of course there was the whole fact that he was no longer with us. If I lost Percy, I don't think I could get close to anyone again for fear of losing him (even if he was as hot as Zac Efron).

"Alright, it's your turn I guess," Jane said.

"Truth or dare, Tara?" I asked.

"Truth," Tara answered.

"What's the most embarrassing thing you did as a child?"

"You don't want to know."

"You have to tell," Jane said.

"Okay don't judge me, but I used to be a pageant kid," Tara said.

"Wait, like legitimate _Toddlers and Tiaras_ beauty pageants," Laura asked, gasping and rolling on the ground with laughter. I didn't watch that much reality TV, but I assumed whatever _Toddlers and Tiaras_ was it was pretty awful.

"I knew you would make fun of me," Tara said, crossing her arms.

"It's okay Tara, we're still your friends," Laura said. "_If_ you show us your crown collection," she laughed more.

"It's my turn!" Tara said. "Truth or dare, Annabeth?"

"Why are you all picking on me?" I protested.

"Well, your life must be infinitely more interesting than that of a mere mortal," Laura said with an eyebrow raise. I quickly sent her a gesture that said, _Shut up or wake up with my knife in your neck._

"Dare," I said, since this was Tara I assumed anything she said would be pretty harmless.

"I dare you to call Percy and tell him… you're running away to live among the dolphins!"

"Tara, you are so bad at this game," Laura said.

"No I think it's great," I said reaching for the landline. I dialed the boy's room number and waited as it rang.

"We're sleeping," a groggy voice said.

"Jeremy, give the phone to Percy," I said. There was a crackling and faint "It's for you," as the phone was passed around.

"Annabeth, are you okay? Is there something wrong?" Percy said, half asleep.

"We're fine, I just called to tell you I'm running away to live among the dolphins," I said in a monotone voice.

"That's nice, I'll visit you," he said, probably thinking this was some weird dream. "Love you."

"Love you too," I said, and I hung up the phone. "Well that was fun," I said to the girls. "I say we follow the boy's lead and get some sleep."

**Thanks for reading and leave a review!**

**Bye!**

**-Arrietta**


	65. Chapter 65

**Hello my beautiful lovely wonderful readers!**

**Happy April Fool's day. I hope you all did something actually funny because all I did was troll people on Facebook. Also happy Mishapocalypse. I'm still scarred and will most certainly have nightmares. **

**Enjoy! **

We had been back in New York for about a week. Not much had happened for the rest of the DC trip, except I had this weird dream where Annabeth ran away to live among the dolphins. And I guess in the morning I thought it was real and Laura and Annabeth found me swimming out to sea trying to find the dolphins. Man that was a weird day.

Anyways, something else really fun was happening. I was teaching Annabeth how to drive!

"This is so stupid," she said.

I thought this was going to be really fun. For once I was teaching Annabeth something instead of the other way around. But I could see why she hated it.

"Why didn't you learn two years ago?" I asked. It was pretty weird that she was eighteen and had never been behind the wheel.

"It wasn't a priority," she said simply. I accepted it. Annabeth's priorities were something I would never even try to comprehend.

"Okay so that's the PRNDL," I said.

"What did you just say?"

"PRNDL."

"Percy it's called a gear shift. Park, reverse, neutral, drive, and low. Call it a gear shift."

"But it spells PRNDL," I said.

"Moving on," she said.

"Okay so that's the wheel," I said.

"Thank you Sifu Percy," she said.

"I detect sarcasm."

"You detect correctly."

"Fine then, do it yourself," I said.

"I will, if you can do this it must be easy," she said. She shifted gears and put a tentative foot on the gas pedal. We were slowly making our way out of the parking lot.

"This is so simple," she said. Soon we were out on the main road.

"Watch the traffic," I said.

"Percy, we're in New York. It's all traffic."

After going around the block half a dozen times Annabeth had gotten bored. So we drove around the city a few times.

"You're really good at this," I said.

"Well if you read the driver's ed. books it's not very hard."

"Do you think you can handle the highway?" I asked.

"Please, I can handle anything."

So we were on the highway. There weren't many cars out so I thought nothing could go very wrong.

We rolled the windows down and blasted some weird indie rock song I'd never heard. Annabeth was singing/screaming at the top of her lungs and it was pretty amazing because I had never seen her really let loose like that.

"I love driving!" she shouted. She was going faster and faster down the road.

Then everything went black.

I came back for just a few seconds. I heard sirens in the distance, felt a throbbing in my head, and saw a lot of blood.

**Thanks for reading and leave a review!**

**-Arrietta**


	66. Chapter 66

**Wow you guys are pathetic. And I say that in the most loving way because I adore all of you and cherish you with my entire soul. But you seriously thought I would kill them off? Well... you'll have to read and find out. **

**Note: I am not a doctor, I assume you are not a doctor, but if you are and notice that I am screwing up what really goes on in a hospital, please know I am getting all of my information from watching ****_House._**

**Enjoy!**

**(Annabeth POV)**

Does something ever happen and it's so awful you think it must have just been a dream? And you have to tell yourself it's real because your mind just can't accept it? That's how it felt. I was praying it was a dream. I thought I might have just killed the love of my life.

The crash was quick. I didn't know it had happened until the car was already upside down. And I hadn't even hit anything, I just swerved into a ditch and the car tumbled over a few times. It was entirely my fault.

I blacked out for a while. When I came too all I could see was Percy. There was a nasty gash on his head, he was completely unconscious and covered in blood.

The next time I came to I was in the back of an ambulance. All I could remember was screaming his name and thrashing around as much as my weak body would let me. A paramedic had to hold me down. He gave me a shot and I didn't wake up again for a while.

The next time I woke up I was in a hospital. There was a tube attached to my arm which made me nauseas just to look at. My leg was evidently broken and there was a large cast on it. A monitor attached to a band on my wrist started beating faster and a nurse rushed in.

"Where's Percy?"

"How are you feeling?"

"Where's Percy?"

"Are you hungry?"

"Where's Percy?"

"He's in Intensive Care," she said with a polite smile.

"Is he… is he going to make it?"

"Sweetie…"

"Is he going to make it?"

"The doctors think so. His head was pretty bashed up, and he had a bit of internal bleeding they had to stop. They don't expect any complications, but…"

"But sometimes things don't go how you expect," I said bitterly.

"Your father got here about an hour ago, do you want to see him?" she asked. I didn't nod or shake my head but I knew he'd come in anyways. Asking questions was just a formality for nurses.

Percy was hurt. He could have permanent brain damage or worse. And me? It was my fault and all I had was a broken leg and an IV tube. He could end up paralyzed. What would he do if he couldn't fight anymore? Sword fighting was his favorite thing to do and I might have just taken that from him. And if a monster got to him and he couldn't move he'd be done for. What if he had amnesia? Would he remember me again? I didn't know if magical amnesia and brain injury amnesia worked the same way. I doubted it.

While I was lost in worry my dad came in the room and sat next to me. For a long time he didn't try to talk. He just watched me and appreciated the fact that I was alive. He appreciated the fact that I wasn't the kid in the IC unit. I would have done anything to switch places with Percy.

I wondered if this was maybe some kind of punishment from our godly parents. When you're little you learn that if you're good, good things happen. If you're bad, bad things happen. I'm not trying to sound conceited when I say that I generally consider myself a good person. The worst thing I had ever done was love him, and maybe that was enough to deserve this. I alternated from praying to Athena to save Percy and cursing her for letting this happen.

"Annabeth, I love you so much. I'm sorry that I'm not a perfect dad. I'm sorry that I'm not always there for you. I'm sorry that we don't get to spend much time together. I'm sorry that you have a hard life. But I need you to know that I love you no matter what. I don't really know what I'd do if there was ever a day that you couldn't come home," he said.

"I don't want him to die," I said. There was no holding back the tears anymore. "I don't want him to not get to come home. I don't know if I'll be okay anymore."

"Shh, it'll be alright. You are so strong. You are so brave. Everything will be fine," he said. He put a hand on my head and smoothed out my hair. Maybe he didn't have to watch me die, but he had to watch my heart break. Maybe that was just as bad.

I didn't mean to, but the drugs they were pumping into my blood made me fall back asleep. When I woke up again the nurse was standing by my bedside again.

"You have another visitor; do you want to see her?" I nodded.

Sally walked into the room, eyes red and puffy from crying. She quietly sat next to the bed. I looked down at the bed sheets. I couldn't look at her. I could not look in her eyes knowing that Percy might be dying because of me.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly.

"No," she said.

"I'm sorry," I said, a little louder.

"Please stop. Don't blame yourself. Whatever you do, do not blame yourself. This was not your fault," she said.

"But it was my fault," I said.

"No, it was an accident. I will not let you blame yourself for an accident. And how would Percy feel if he knew you were blaming yourself for this?"

"But it was my fault. I wasn't watching the road. I was driving over the speed limit," I said. Then she did what I never expected.

She pulled me into a frighteningly tight hug. She whispered in my ear, "I don't know what's going to happen, but this is what I know: I love you. I love both you and Percy and nothing's going to change that. You will always be my daughter no matter what happens. Understand?"

"Yes," I sniffled. She pulled away, her eyes full of tears again.

"You'll be the first to know if Percy's condition changes. Okay?"

"Okay," I said.

I drifted back into drug-induced sleep. I dreamed that I was standing on the shores at camp. All of our friends were there, even the ones that had passed on. I walked down an isle arm in arm with Luke and Thalia. Luke was back to him old self, no scar or anything. Thalia was just the same as always. At the end of the isle was Percy in a black suit. Thalia and Luke walked off at the end of the isle and stood together. I stood next to Percy and he told me I looked beautiful. It was everything I had ever wanted.

But everything started to crumble. Luke's scar came back and his eyes turned gold. His voice wasn't his own anymore. Thalia was suddenly gone again and I was alone. Everyone at camp was fighting each other. I ran to Percy who was the only one I had left. But he wasn't there anymore. His body was lying in a hospital bed, drenched in blood. But his voice rang inside my head. "You killed me," he said over and over again.

I woke up in a hot sweat. The monitor was beeping rapidly as the nurse held a cold cloth to my forehead.

"Bad dream?" she asked.

"You could say that," I said.

"Well I think you'll be happy to hear Percy was taken out of IC," the nurse said.

"Where is he? Can I see him?"

"He still hasn't exactly come around. He'll probably still be drifting in and out of consciousness for a few days."

"So he'll be alright?" I asked.

The nurse sat down and took a deep breath. "He'll live, but they still aren't sure about his condition. It doesn't look like there are any real problems, but you can never really tell these things for sure until he wakes up."

"Can I go see him?"

"I think you should just let him rest," she said with a sweet smile.

"Please, I just really want to see him," I said.

She sighed. "I'll see what I can do." Then she left the room.

I noticed a stack of books on my nightstand. Sally or my dad must have brought them in for me. I picked up _The Picture of Dorian Gray _but I couldn't concentrate, not to mention the book was about death and that's not really what I felt like reading about. I looked through the other books. _The Fault in Our Stars:_ Death. _The Book Thief:_ Death. _Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows:_ Death. Do authors seriously have nothing better to write about than death? I was seriously in the mood for a book about puppies that just went on their puppy business and no one ever died and no one was ever sad and no one had to feel guilty about almost killing her fiancé. Was that too much to ask for?

So I ended up staring at the ceiling and listening to the steady beeps of the monitor that regulated my pulse. _Beep. Beep. _It must have beeped a thousand times when the nurse finally came back in.

"Good news! I talked to Percy's nurse and she says it would be alright for him to have a visitor," she said.

She then began the long process of unhooking me from an endless stream of wires and lifting me into a wheelchair. I now got a proper look at my broken leg and could see that the cast went up to the knee. This would be highly inconvenient.

While my nurse rolled me through the hospital's hallways she told me about the details of the crash and my injuries. The car had rolled completely over half a dozen times until in came to a stop at the bottom of the ditch. They think Percy hit a rock during the tumble and that's what his head. I snapped my leg on the car right after impact. I would have to wear the cast for at least a month.

Finally we reached Percy's room. Sally was sitting by his bedside and holding his hand. I could tell she had been crying again because her eyes were red and puffy. The nurse knocked on the door and Sally sprang up. She stooped down and pulled me into another tight hug.

"Oh honey, are you feeling alright? Have you even eaten anything? It's so good you're here, he's been mumbling your name in his sleep," she said, each sentence coming faster than the last. I didn't really know what to say.

Sally rolled my chair right up next to Percy's bed. He was sound asleep and there was the familiar _beep, beep_ of the monitor. I got a closer look at his face. There were stitches on his forehead surrounded by a dark bruise.

"Annabeth, I'm going to get you some food from the cafeteria, okay? You look hungry," Sally said. She and the nurse left the room. I took Percy's limp hand in mine.

"I'm sorry," I said. I tried to be brave. I always tried to be brave. I always hid whatever I was feeling because my problems didn't matter as much as whatever problem the world was facing. A snarky comment hid whatever was inside. But seeing Percy like this broke me for the first time since Tartarus. It was the same feeling; that he was in danger because of me. I had done this to him. Sally told me I was brave and I couldn't blame myself, but I didn't feel like being brave anymore. I wanted to curl up with Percy and hear that everything would be alright and bad things wouldn't happen. But bad things did happen. Bad things happened to good people. And Percy was the best person I knew, but he had the worst luck.

"Hey," a croaky voice said. I lifted my head and wiped away my tears. "Who are you? I know Annabeth and she sure doesn't cry over a few little scrapes," he said with an easy smile.

***slow applaud for non-deadness***

**Okay well thanks for reading and please leave a review!**

**-Arrietta**


	67. Chapter 67

**I'M SO SORRY I'VE BEEN GONE! Okay so my keyboard broke which, go figure, makes typing really difficult. So that's why I've been AWOL forever. **

**So please enjoy this chapter!**

**(Percy POV)**

I dreamed I was on Olympus. Oh this was familiar. This was a good old fashioned demigod dream. Hadn't had one of these in a while.

"YOUR INSOLENT DAUGHTER NEARLY KILLED MY SON!" a booming voice said.

"I'll remind you that it was your spawn that was teaching her how to drive. Uh, this is why people with kelp for brains do not teach," Athena said.

"You went too far this time," Poseidon said. "This was your doing, how else could your daughter have gotten out unscathed and my son be near death?"

"It's just the way fate works sometimes," Athena said. "Ever heard of natural selection?"

"You take that back."

"Hey, it was my son Darwin who came up with it, not me," she said.

"I swear by all the gods if my son is hurt on your account you will be sent to the depths of Tartarus where you belong," my father warned.

"You think I did this? I may not be the nicest of the Olympians, but foul play against my own daughter is even below me."

"Why do I find that hard to believe?"

"Poseidon I may not approve of your son but I put my daughter's happiness above my own agenda. I did not do this," Athena said.

The scene faded and I woke up for a moment. Annabeth was sitting by the bed with her head in her hands. My vision was blurred but I could tell she was crying. Gods, Annabeth never cried. What had I done this time?

I looked around the room. It was a hospital- interesting place to wake up. Then the memory of the crash started coming back. Now it made sense why she was crying.

"Hey," I said. My voice was weaker than I expected it to be. I pulled a smile for Annabeth's sake. "Who are you? I know Annabeth and she sure doesn't cry over a few little scrapes."

She smiled and that was the last thing I saw before I fell back asleep.

When I woke up again Annabeth was gone. In her place was my mom, sleeping in the visitor chair.

"Hey mom," I said. I was still surprised by how weak my voice sounded. She was startled out of her sleep.

"Percy?" she said. "Percy!" She grabbed me and hugged me tightly and didn't let go for a long time.

"Mom, I can't breathe," I said. She pulled away. "I'm sorry, I was just so worried about you."

"You're always worried about me."

"You give me too many opportunities. Besides, I'm a mom, it's my job to worry," she said.

"How long have I been out?" I asked.

"About two days," she said. "But Annabeth said you were awake for about three seconds a few hours ago. Do you remember that?"

"Yeah," I said. "So she's alright?"

"Just a few bruises and a broken leg."

"Where is she?"

"In her room, you'll be able to see her soon enough," she said.

"Do you have any ambrosia?" I asked.

"Percy I don't know if you can mix ambrosia wit mortal medicines…"

"It'll be fine," I said. She pulled out a few squares from her purse and I took one. I was instantly feeling better. All the drugs in the world couldn't compare to the healing effects of godly food.

I stood up slowly. When I stumbled a little Mom caught me.

"Percy, you just got out of surgery! Lay down!" she scolded.

"I-I just…"

"Annabeth will be here soon enough, just keep resting," she said. She stood to leave the room. At the door she turned to me and smiled. "I love you Percy," she said.

"Love you too," I said.

It must have sucked to have me as a kid. Dealing with your own mortality is one thing. Having to deal with your kid's mortality is a whole different story.

About ten minutes later a nurse came in. She said I couldn't have any visitors other than family until visitor hours again tomorrow. I argued a lot that Annabeth should be let in. The nurse was insistent on the immediate-family-only rule. That pretty much sucked too.

Twelve hours and forty three minutes until I could see Annabeth. This was going to be a long day.

**Thanks for leaving and leave a review! (Or don't, whatever, I won't tell you how to live you life)**

**Bye!**

**-Arrietta**


	68. Chapter 68

A few hours after I was sent back to my room Sally came in and told me Percy was awake and talking. That was good news.

Then she told me that I couldn't see him until tomorrow. Not so good news.

Possibly the longest day of my life later, I was being wheeled down to Percy's room. When we got there, Percy was sitting up in his bed and looking anxiously out the room's window. When he saw me his eyes lit up and a grin crept across his face.

He tried to push himself up on the bed to sit, but winced in pain and lied back down. He still kept that classic smile going through the pain.

"Miss me?" he asked simply. Gods, he was so arrogant.

"I think you missed me," I said.

"I think I'll give you guys a few minutes alone," Sally said, parking my wheelchair next to Percy's bed.

Percy didn't really look like Percy. His hair was damp with sweat, which wasn't the most unusual sight for him as he sweated a lot during training, but that was just the beginning. His face was pale and his eyes had dark circles under them. The worst part was his abundance of cuts and bruises, the worst being the stitched up gash on his head.

"Are you feeling alright?" I asked.

"I'm a lot better now that you're here," he said.

"I'm sorry about what happened, I was being so stupid," I said.

"Hey, don't blame yourself. You're Annabeth Chase, stupid shouldn't even be in your vocabulary unless you're talking about me. It was just an accident," he said.

"No, spilling milk on the counter is an accident. This was reckless driving and it put us in danger."

"When are we not in danger?"

"Exactly, I took our lives that are already screwed up enough and screwed them up even more!"

"Annabeth! It was just a car crash! Do you honestly think we can handle monsters and gods but not a simple car crash?"

I clenched my fists and unclenched them. I took a deep breath before speaking again.

"The mortal world is just supposed to be easy… Everything normal people deal with is supposed to be easier because we've dealt with worse. But sometimes the mortal world is hard and I just feel so weak because I'm supposed to be able to deal with it."

"Did you forget that you aren't in this alone? I'll always be there for you, whether it's fighting monsters or learning to drive we can do this together," Percy said.

"Stop being so deep, Seaweed Brain," I laughed.

"I get it from you."

Percy asked me about how my time in the hospital has been so far. I told him about how everything was terrible and the food was worse. Sally had really been spoiling me with her sublime cooking. Percy told me about how he had determined that the Fields of Punishment's supreme feature was a hospital bed because he was dying of boredom.

Things got a little darker when he told me about the surgery he got. He had internal bleeding all up his right side where he had hit the door as the car tumbled. He was in the operating room for a full five hours while they tried to stop the bleeding. They almost lost him twice.

He lifted his shirt and showed me the long line of stitches and bruises that went up the right side of his stomach starting at the hips and going to the armpit. I had to look away. I had seen Percy bleeding, scarred, and close to death, but I thought that was all behind us. Obviously I was wrong.

Maybe an hour or so later the nurse came and told me visitor time was up. I leaned forward on my wheelchair and gave Percy a quick kiss goodbye. I promised I'd be back the next day.

**I know a lot of you have noticed that I haven't been as enthusiastic about my writing for this story lately, I've noticed it too. I hate to say it but this story isn't as fun as it used to be. I've tried writing more chapters but it isn't really working. I'm sorry to say that this might be my last chapter. **

**I can't thank you guys enough for sticking with me through this monster of a story and now I'm leaving it unfinished. You guys really can't imagine how much I've loved each and every one of your reviews. This story has done so much for me, it started out just for fun but now I'm really interested in being a writer. **

**This isn't good bye really. I want to spend more time on my other stories, especially "One-Shots, Drabbles, and Fluff, Oh My!" You can read that if you want to keep in touch. **

**It's been fun going slowly insane with you guys.**

**Thanks for reading**

**-Arrietta**


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